Vampires Will Never Hurt You
by stAnd out - SHOUT OUT
Summary: 'When I first met him, I didn't see the dangers'. Before Stefan or Elena can save her, Riley's world is flipped upside down as the reality she once knew begins to crumble beneath her feet, dropping her into the darkest truths of life; afterlife. Damon/OC
1. Pologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries, I only own Riley Rain and her Parents.**

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**Prologue**

I looked through the trees in fright, hearing my own heart pounding loudly in my ears. My throat was painfully tight and dry from the running that I had been doing, my legs burning and beginning to buckle under me as I stumbled over roots and through large piles of leaves that had gathered up over the fall and winter, while it was now spring once more and new leaves were beginning to bud up on the tree tips.

"Help me!" I screamed out with a scratchy voice, stumbling over yet another root. But I wasn't able to catch myself as fast as I had the other times. I tumbled forward, my right shoulder slamming against the trunk of a dying tree. Some of the bark blew off from the hit against it and showered down on me as I laid still. I wanted to move, I wanted to run. But I couldn't. I was unable to get up again; my whole body was screaming 'no' while my whole mind was screaming 'run'.

"So, are you finally going to give up?"

I shuddered against the dirt and leaves covering the forest floor, not turning to look at the horrifying face that I had been have nightmares about for nightss now. I could feel as he moved to stand over me, a foot on either side of my stomach, before his hand buried in my hair, pulling my head up from the ground as I let out a shriek of pain.

"Leave me alone!" I cried, hearing as he let out a shuddering laugh into my ear, before I felt the slick wetness as he ran his tongue along my neck from shoulder to jaw. I trembled violently as he inhaled deeply against my skin.

He hummed happily as he buried his nose in my hair, before I was rolled over so fast that my head smacked to the side against the same tree my shoulder had collided with. I let out a started, short cry before my head was once more being turned to the side as his tongue glided over my skin as second time, this time accompanied by a pair of long sharp daggers along my throat.

"Devine."

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**I know, super short prologue, trust me, the chapters will be MUCH longer than this. Hope you like the rest of the story!**


	2. They Won't Lie To You

**They Won't Lie To You**

I looked at myself in mirror briefly before I took off out of the room, jogging down the stairs quickly. I could hear the radio in my mom's office still going after she had left it on the other day before when she and dad had left for a court meeting in New York. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be seeing them for a while. Breezing through the kitchen quickly, I collected my iPhone, and a granola bar for my breakfast.

Stepping out from the door, I pulled the keychain out from in my pocket and quickly locked the front door. I needed to hurry before I was late for first period. I liked first semester so much more, I had a free period during first semester as my first class, so I didn't need to wake up early. Typing in the key code to the garage, the door lifted slowly, showing me the black and red slick motorcycle on the far right, a Suzuki GSX-R1000. I let a smirk slide over my lips as I walked toward the bike, making sure that I had the key on my keychain. Sliding the keychain around my neck, I snatched the leather jacket that hung over the seat and slipped it on, before zipping it up to the collar. It was a diagonal design of the zipper, with a fold of leather on the inside that could be used as an inner layer, of bent out of the zipper as a more stylish design. But I just settled for zipping up the entire thing for safety, then threw my backpack on overtop. I tucked my iPhone into the inner pocked of the jacket before I picked up the helmet from the shelf and slipped it on, strapping it on under my chin.

My mother had always hated that I had a fetish with bikes, she wanted me to be a _lady_ but I just couldn't stop who I was. I was an adrenaline junky. I loved the rush you got from going fast, from doing something dangerous. My father was the one who had first taken my on a ride, when he was still able to ride his bike. I was 12 at the time. I had been in love with the death trap ever since.

Hitting the button to close the door as I passed, I drove out onto the road and toward the school faster than the speed laws would have agreed. I loved going fast, that's why I took whatever chance I could to go up into the open roads where there weren't many vehicles and just floor it. It was such a rush, feeling all the organs in your body get sucked back toward your spine.

Pulling up into the school much faster than I would have liked, parking my bike between the many clusters of cars and trucks that were also in the student parking lot. There were kids hanging around their vehicles, others were heading toward the front door so that they could make their way toward the classes or lockers.

Looking around at the people in the parking lot, I spotted Elena, hanging around Stefan and his car. I grinned as I remembered when I had first met them. I had gotten startled when Stefan stepped up behind me at a football game and I ended up pouring my drink all over him. I could have sworn Elena was much happier than embarrasses as Stefan pulled his shirt off in front of her later on to change into his football jersey instead.

Swinging my leg over the bike, I dismounted, pulling the key out after turning the bike off. I knew that people were watching me, mostly guys; they never seemed to be able to get over the 'hot girl straddling a bike' thing, and my long legs didn't help, either. Pulling off my helmet, I began to make my way toward the front door, carrying the helmet at my side so I could stuff it in my locker for a good six hours. Taking the stairs two at a time, I reached the door before Elena and Stefan could see me, allowing me to slip into the building undeterred.

"Riley!"

Damn, so close.

"Hey, Elena, hey, Stefan," I smiled, watching as they entered the school after me. Stefan had an arm around her waist, a show of protectiveness and ownership. "What's up with you guys?" I asked generally, getting a smile from Elena.

"Life's interesting, for us," She answered, and I just knew that there was some kind of hidden meaning to her words. I nodded in understanding, before the warning bell for classes caught my attention and I instinctively looked toward the nearest speaker.

"Guess we'll have to catch up later," I smiled, getting a nod from Elena as Stefan gave a small, tight smile back. Something was seriously stressing that guy out. Giving a wave of my free hand, I left the couple to themselves and headed toward my locker that I could dispose of my helmet and jacket before heading toward my first class, luckily I already had my books, and my class was just one hall down from my locker.

Later that day, I found myself squished in between Caroline and Bonnie, with Elena and Stefan sitting across from us at the table we were occupying at lunch that evening. I looked between Caroline, Bonnie and Elena and noticed that there seemed to be a more tense air than usual. Whenever I made a move to get up, even once I was just going to go get a drink, Caroline and Bonnie would grab my arms and keep my butt firmly planted on the wooden bench seat.

"Uh, may I have a word with Riley?" Stefan asked as he looked between the three other girls. I looked from each one, then back to Stefan without moving my head in fear they may lash out at me. My arms were released as Elena kissed Stefan on the cheek one more time before he and I fled from the area.

"Thanks for that, but I think I'm going to have to work to get the circulation back into my arms," I joked as Stefan and I walked toward one of the nearby vending machine in the school. I looked at the selections quickly before deciding on a Brisk Lemonade. Pulling out $2.25 from my pocket, I slid them into the machine and quickly made my choice while Stefan leaned against the machine.

"No problem, I think Elena needs to sort some things out with them anyway," Stefan replied as he watched the lemonade fall into the bottom box, dripping in condensation. I retrieved the sweetly flavoured drink, before straightening once more.

"Is that why I was pulled from my test cramming? So Elena couldn't talk to them?" I asked as we made our way back toward the outdoor eating area. Stefan let out a small laugh as he scratched at the side of his nose. A nervous tick.

"I guess you could phrase it like that," He said as he looked over at me, I let out a chuckle and popped open the cap on the lemonade bottle, taking a quick drink before twisting the cap back on again.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me what it is that's going on with them, if you know of course," I hastily added at the end, while Stefan shook his head.

"This is between the girls. I do know what has them all upset, but I gave my word to Elena-"

"Ah, yes; boyfriends honour, gotcha," I mumbled, holding my hands up in defeat. We began toward the others once again, and I caught a glimpse of a hard frown on Elena's face before she schooled it when she saw me and Stefan coming back. I frowned slightly, but ignored the annoying nagging in my gut when it was so blatantly obviously that something was direly wrong and it was going on right behind my back.

Later that evening, we had all decided to meat at the grill, since it had been so long since we had all come to just hang out and not get caught up in some kind of incident or drama. I leaned back against the back of the chair I sat in as I watched the others attempt at a game of darts, which was failing miserably and leaving me very greatly amused.

"Oh god, the only one with even a semblance of talent for this is Stefan," I teased, getting playful glares from Caroline and Elena, while Bonnie continued to stare at Stefan with a sour look. I had a strong feeling that he wasn't getting a look because he was winning. I caught Stefan's eye and motioned toward Bonnie, while he just shook his head. He was telling me that it wasn't my concern. I sighed and rolled me eyes, getting to my feet.

"Where're you going, Ri'?" Caroline asked as she watched me pull on my leather jacket.

"I need to be getting home, as amazingly entertaining as this is, if I'm going to get into a good college I need to nearly ace the test this week," I sighed dramatically Elena let out a chuckle, before drawing me into a good-bye hug and wished me a safe trip home. Caroline and Bonnie soon did the same, while I waved my farewells to Stefan.

"Be careful, Riley," Stefan called up to me, while I gave him an assuring smile.

"Always."

Stepping out from the Grill as I pulled the straps out from my helmet, I stepped toward my bike, where it was pulled up to the curb a couple yards from the front entrance to the building. I jumped, also stopped dead in my tracks when the low caw of a familiar black bird caught my attention. I placed a hand over my heart when I saw that it was just a crow on the back of my bike where I could put my bag.

"Get off of there," I grumbled more to myself as I continued to pull on my helmet. Snapping the straps into place, I pulled my gloves from my pocket so that the cool wind of the night didn't give my fingers wind burn. "Shew!" I said louder, swinging an arm at the black bird. It 'cawed' again before it took flight toward the building's rooftop. I didn't pay much more attention to it after that and mounted the motorcycle taking the keychain out from my pocket to start the bike. Making sure the chain would cause problems, I looked to make sure that no one was coming up either side of the rode before I pulled out and turned toward home.

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**I hope everyone liked the first official chapter! Please tell me if I got anything wrong. I'm going off the show, since I haven't read the books, so it would be awesome to get some feedback on good or bad. But if you don't like it please don't go on and on about it, but tell my why.**

I won't update until I get just 3 reviews for this chapter.

**~ s t A n d - o U t**


	3. They Won't Fear You

They Won't Fear You

Stepping out of the shower, I pulled the towel from the rack beside the glass door before I began to towel dry my hair. Leaving the towel over my head, I stepped over to the mirror and cleared away the fog that had covered it up. Working on my hair a bit more, I settled to just brush the shoulder length strands through, and then pull it into a clip. Using the towel to finish drying the rest of my body, I tossed the towel into the hamper once I was finished. The best part of having a bathroom connected to your room, you can walk from the bathroom to the closet without having to wear anything.

Opening the bathroom door, I flipped on my bedroom light before turning off the bathrooms light, and then moved over toward my closet. My dad had put up a shelving unit on one side and a hanging pole on the other. This way I didn't need to waste space in my room on a dresser. I could fit everything into my simple closet, and it wasn't even a walk in. A buzzing sound caught my attention, and I looked over toward my desk to see my iPhone vibrating on the wooden surface. Grabbing a tank-top, underwear and sweat pants, I pulled them on as I made my way across the room toward the phone.

_There's been another attack. Be careful._

It was from Elena. She always told me whenever there was another animal attack because I wasn't one to listen to the news or read the paper much, so she took it upon herself to warn me when it was too dangerous to go outside because I may get eaten.

_Promise, I'll see the next sunrise ;)_

Sending the quick message back, I plugged it into my speakers so that it could charge, and the song that I had programmed as my alarm could go off the next morning very loudly with the help of my speakers. Turning on my bedside lamp, I turned off the big light in my room and made my way toward the bed that called me to sleep. Falling into the covers, I vaguely thought I had seen a crow outside the window before I turned out the lights that night.

I woke with a start the next morning, the song _Imperfection _by _Skillet_ blasting through the speakers that sat on my desk across the room. I groaned in annoyance and fell back into my pillows for a few moments before my hand shot toward the nightstand beside my bed and snatched up the remote before I promptly hit the power button, silencing the speakers.

"Not how I want to wake up in the morning," I grumped, before pulling myself reluctantly out of bed. I wanted more sleep, I wanted to just lie in my warm bed all day, then go back to sleep at night and repeat the same process the next day. But alas, _school_ beckoned to me.

Dragging myself toward my closet, I pulled out a pair of black jeans with a white trim and edging, a long black shirt that reached about mid thigh and a white zip up vest that had almost the same lopsided zipper design as my jacket did. Looking out the window, I was glad to see that it was only cloudy, and had yet to start to rain. Pulling on all of the things that I needed to wear that day, fixed my insanely messed up hair and dabbed on a bit of make-up, I proceeded to rush downstairs for my pathetic morning breakfast of a chocolate covered oatmeal bar.

But, by the time I was ready to leave and had opened my front door, it was pouring outside. I was glad that I had brought my jacket in with me this time, I didn't think it would be very fun to run through that downpour in a white vest. But, I didn't have any way of getting to school now. There was no way I could take by bike.

A car horn caught my attention as I looked toward the end of the driveway, a familiar red car. It was Stefan's. Elena sat in the passenger seat, waving my forward toward the car. Raising my hand to silently say one minute, I quickly locked the front door, before I bolted out into the downpour and toward the car as fast as I could across the front lawn; without slipping. Elena and reached back and opened the door for me so I could jump in on the run.

"Thanks for the lift," I panted, brushing the rain from my face. Elena's head poked back around the seat as she smiled.

"Don't thank me, it was Stefan's idea, he remembered that you rode a bike to school and offered that we come and pick you up. Guess we got here right on time, huh?" She asked as she gave a small grin.

"Perfect timing," I replied, pulling my backpack off and buckling up. We didn't talk much as we made our way toward the school, and I was actually pretty glad, it gave me time to inspect. Stefan was driving with a stiff hand on the wheel and Elena was nervously bouncing her leg as he drove. Stefan would occasionally shoot a look back at me through the rear view mirror, think I didn't notice them. But I knew better than to say something, when someone's hiding something from you, but it you ask they clam up and become even more suppressed.

When we arrived at the school the rain was still coming so there were only a few people in the student parking lot, standing around talking with umbrella's over their heads. We all rushed through the rain, carrying our bags in our hands, to try and reach the school with the least amount of water on us.

"Thanks again for the ride, guys," I grinned as me stepped into the front foyer of the school. Elena and Stefan had taken up their usual posture, Stefan with his arm around Elena's waist possessively and Elena leaning lightly against him.

"It was no trouble," Stefan simply shook of the thanks before he and Elena bid their farewell as they took off toward where their lockers were, lucky for them very close together. I remained where I was as I quickly pulled my bag on over my shoulder, unzipped the top collar of my leather jacket down slightly, before I turned to head to my own locker. My way toward my locker was blocked though, as I collided with a hard chest.

"Whoa, what's your hurry?" A teasing male voice asked as they took hold of my arms when I practically bounced off their chest. Allowing them to help me right myself, I looked up and was shocked at the unreal blue eyes that looked back at me. I had only ever seen blue as clear and bright as that on T.V.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have," I apologized, taking a step away from him when I recognized that bad boy vibe that came off of him. Black pants, black shirt, black jacket, dark hair, pale skin.

"That's alright; highs school does that to people. So, I'm looking for my brother, any chance you can help me out?" He asked, burying his hands into his jacket pockets, which I noted was also a leather jacket.

"Well, who's your brother?"

"Stefan, Stefan Salvatore."

I stood still as I watched the face off that was taking place between the two bother's, Elena at my side as she watched the silent fight with a nervous shake to her body. I was left in shock, from when as soon as Stefan and Damon saw one another they were already caught in an all out glaring battle. The bell had already rung, but none of us moved.

"Hey!" I jumped as I looked over to see a teacher that was glaring at us from her doorway, "get to your classes now." She clearly didn't see that one of the people from the group wasn't even attending the school.

"Come on, Elena." I said as I tugged her arm, while I knew that she wished that she could stay, whatever was going on with them was clearly between the two. "Elena, let's go." I insisted harder, tugging at her as I pulled her toward where her first class was. It was better that I made sure she got to class then worrying about being late for my own.

"But, Stefan-"

"He's a big boy, Elena, you should know that," I winked and could feel Elena tense under my hand as I stopped in front of her classroom, waiting for her to go inside to her room. She let out a reluctant sigh before she walked into the room, and I turned to head to my own homeroom, not able to make it before the final bell rang as the start of class.

"Ms. Rain, you're late." My history teacher said as he looked over from where he was writing on the board when I walked into the room. The rest of the students looked up to see which kid was late that day, quite a few seemed shocked to see that it was me.

"Sorry, I was helping a friend out, he was trying to find his brother." I said, not really knowing why I had called Damon a friend since I had just met him and it wasn't the best first impression, either. Rushing over to my assigned seat, I could see when Caroline gave me a curious look, but I just shook my head, telling her silently that she'd know later. I knew that she would probably try and text me in the middle of class, even though she knew that I always turned my phone off during History.

I wasn't able to focus on my work very easily that day, even though history was my favourite subject. I looked around at the people in the class, and suddenly knew why they all looked so dead all class, they just wanted to get out. That's what I wanted, now, too.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up to see Mr. Saltzman leaning beside my desk. Everyone had been left to do their own work, which I would usually be done by now, but I hadn't even started. I looked down at my blank sheet and the questions from the textbook before once more returning my look to Mr. Saltzman.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just out of it today," I said as I gave him a sorrowful look.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with why you were late, would it?" He asked, leaning on his forearms on my desk.

"No," I blurted out, "No, I just had to take Damon to Stefan. I ran into him and it took a bit longer to get to Stefan's locker then I had thought it would." As soon as the name 'Damon' left my lips I was sure that Mr. Saltzman's whole body tensed up as his hands clenched into fists for a split second before relaxing again.

"Alright, well, I hope that everything's alright tomorrow, I don't want my favourite student to fall behind." Mr. Saltzman said, giving my arm a single pat, before he rose to his full height again and began toward his desk at the front of the class once more. I was left in wonder and suspicious as to why he had reacted the way that he did. There was clearly something going on, and I was sure that I was going to find out. I never really was one to give up and lay down; I was the one fighting back tooth and nail.

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**It took a lot longer to get three reviews than I thought! I've had this chapter done since the day I published the previous one. I kills me that I can't update because people don't review. Once more, I'm not updating before 3 reviews, and I've already finished the next chapter.**


	4. They Will Always Be Near

**They Will Always Be Near**

"So there's a big football game coming up. Are you coming or what?" Elena looked up to Bonnie and slight surprise, who just sat there innocently, as though she didn't see what the matter was. But I knew that she knew exactly what she was doing.

"I'm going; it sounds like it'll be a blast," I said as I leaned forward on the table at the Grill. It was just us girls tonight; Stefan said that he wasn't able to make it out tonight. So far everyone was going except for Elena, who had already tried to lay out three excused not to go, but we weren't going to be giving up easily. "Come on Elena, it'll be fun! We can catch up and you get to watch your boyfriend in tight pants running across a long field of grass."

"Riley!"

"Oh come on," I cried as I dramatically threw my arms into the air, "You have got to be lying if you're seriously saying that you've never thought of doing-"

"Riley!" All three of the other girls cried, though there was a hint of laugher in their voices this time. I just grinned and shrugged, looking innocent. Bonnie gave my shoulder a light shove while Caroline smiled and laughed, glad that she wasn't the only one to bug Elena about that subject.

"Alright, I'll go, but it's for Stefan, not you three," She scolded as she gave us all a mock critical eye. I glared playfully back, before taking a drink of the iced tea that I had in front of me. A sudden hand on my shoulder caused me to look back over my shoulder, my eyes catching familiar bright blue.

"Well, hello ladies," Damon greeted, giving a sly smile. A predatorily smile. "And, Riley, I never got to thank you this morning, for helping me find Stefan." Damon said as he looked back down at me, and I could hear when Caroline let out a slight growl. I heard that she and Damon had a pretty nasty past. But that didn't explain why all three were now glaring at the man to my left. "You were a wonderful help, and I was wondering if I could have a talk with you."

"Sure-"

"No," Elena interrupted, her hand clenching onto her ice water glass tightly. I looked at her in confusion while I was in a half stand, still rising from my seat when I had been frozen from her short command.

"It's just a talk Elena, calm down." I said as I finished standing, grabbing my jacket from the back of the chair. I saw Damon grin from the corner of my eye as he looked over to the other girls.

"Yes, Elena, it's just a talk."

As he said those words, I realized just what mistake I had made by accepting to be alone with him. We walked out from the Grill onto the street, where it wasn't as crowded. There were always a lot of people there because this one place was basically the only 'hang out' in this small town.

"So, what can I help you with, Damon?" I asked as I looked up to him, since he was a good three inches taller than I was. We stopped just to the left of the entrance, out of the way of anyone that may have been coming or going. I was slightly shocked when I looked into his eyes to see the pupils were larger than normal, before I felt as though I had suddenly fallen into a pool of warm water, my body became not my own.

"Do you know what I am?"

"You're a Salvatore." I answered automatically. He seemed to grin a bit more at my words.

"You will do as I say from now on until I tell you otherwise, it that alright?" Damon asked, getting a numb nod from me as I continued to look into his eyes. "You won't wear any of the jewellery that those three or Stefan give you, unless I say otherwise, alright?" Damon asked again, leaning toward me slightly until I was pressed into the wall. I felt so lightweight, it was strange.

"I'll always ask you before I wear any of their gifts." I answered, giving a small smile. Damon smiled back, taking in a deep breath from where he continued to lean over me, one of his arms coming to rest on the wall above my head.

"Good girl, now, you're not going to tell them anything about this conversation, and act as though nothing is out of the ordinary. Oh, and two more thing, don't accept any drinks from your friends, or let them touch yours; and there is nothing strange going on in your life, alright?"

"Yes, Damon." I replied, standing still as Damon leaned forward and placed slow kiss to my cheek, before pulling away and taking a step back. The warmth disappeared and the chilly damp night air returned. Damon smiled at me, and I smiled back, slightly in confusion of as to why he was suddenly so happy.

"Well, I should be going now, have a wonderful evening, Riley," Damon stated slyly, smirking at me as he began a retreat backward.

"Sure, you too, Damon," I replied, before making my way back into the building. The three girls all seemed tense when I returned to the table, as though they had been holding onto ever second since I had left. "Hey, what'd I miss?" I asked as I returned to my seat, pulling my jacket off again.

"Nothing, so what'd you and Damon talk about." Caroline nearly snapped, leaning forward in wonder, though her eyes showed more anger and annoyance than curiosity.

"Nothing important," I smiled, reaching for my drink before I suddenly just didn't want it anymore. Instead, I just placed my hand on the table like I had never intended to go for the drink at all. The other three continued to watch me closely for the rest of the time we were at the grill, but I just shook them off and continued on as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

The next day at school, I was sure to pay more attention to my work. I didn't want to start falling behind, and Mr. Saltzman seemed pleased to have his favourite student back to normal. I was glad to. For some reason, I felt as though nothing was bothering me anymore, as though I was walking on air. Breezing through my work in first period, I saw the pleased smile on Mr. Saltzman's face, and I pulled out my book to read for the rest of the period.

Lunch time came and I was once more pulled to lunch with the others, though this time things didn't seem as tense to me, just to me. I noticed that Stefan would look over to me every once and a while, but I just ignored it and leaned against the table as Caroline went on about how there was going to be a masquerade party at the Lockwood's house this weekend and that _'we all just __have__ to go'_. I just nodded along, not truly paying attention.

"Hey, I'm going to go get a drink, anyone want anything?" Stefan asked after Caroline had gone on and on about her dress. Elena jumped at the chance and requested a fruit juice, any kind. Bonnie declined, pulling a water-bottle form her bag, while Caroline asked for a diet iced tea. Stefan looked to me finally, wondering about my choice.

"Sure, I'll help you carry them!" I said as I got to my feet, following Stefan toward the cafeteria drink line. Ordering all four drink, Stefan took Elena's, and his while I took Caroline's and my own. Instinctively, I walked with my drink on the opposite side that Stefan was walking, keeping it as far from his as my body could. I saw him share a look with Elena when we reached the table again, but I ignored it once more and just handed Caroline her drink, getting a beaming smile and thanks.

Lounging on the couch in my living room, I had the portable speakers for my iPhone on the table against the wall, while I sat with the remote on the table beside the couch. There were books scattered all along the coffee table in the center of the room as I looked over the one in my lap for the English test that I had on Thursday, or tomorrow to be more exact. I didn't really mind English, it was easy and enjoyable; it was the studying that I didn't like. Not that I really needed it, I found English to be simple as long as you paid attention in class during the lessons.

A loud knock on the front door caught my attention as it broke through the song _Evil Angel _by _Breaking Benjamin_ that was blasting through my speakers. Getting to my feet as I disposed the text book onto the table with my math and music, I made my way toward the speakers, dancing as I did so. I was so carefree at the moment, it felt wonderful.

"_Put me to sleep, Evil Angel._

_Open your wings, Evil Angel."_

Turning the volume down so that the song continued to play, I walked over through the living room door and made my way through the front room toward the front door. Unlocking the heavy wood, I pulled the door open as I continued to mouth the words of the song quietly, before stopping abruptly.

"Damon?"

Damon Salvatore stood before me, leaning against the door frame with that same predatory grin that he always seemed to be wearing. His hear was slightly tussled for some reason, but other than that he seemed just the same as always. Though I couldn't help but think about how sexy he looked with his hair messed the way that it was.

"Hello there, Riley," He greeted, the dimples on his cheeks becoming more prominent as he spoke.

"Hey, Damon-"

"Invite me in." He commanded. I smiled and stepped out of the way, opening the door more fully so that he had room to step inside.

"Come inside, Damon." Damon's smirk grew, before he carefully stepped through the door, almost hesitantly. Reached back, he pushed the door closed so that we were left standing in the front room of my house, looking each other in the eye silently. Damon moved first as he reached for my arm and pulled me harshly up against his person.

"You smell delicious, Riley," He complemented, taking in a long drag of air as he buried his face in my neck. I stayed silent, hearing the chorus once more play from the song, seeming louder than ever, as the song came to an end.

"_Put me to sleep, Evil Angel._

_Open your wings, Evil Angel._

_Fly over me, Evil Angel._

_Why can't I breathe, Evil Angel?"_

_

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_**I'm glad that I was able to update this chapter faster, glad that I got more reviews this time! The next update will come after four reviews! Hope to hear what you think, and tell me if I'm getting anything wrong.**


	5. They Won't Let You Go

**They Won't Let You Go**

His steel arms caged me in, his solid body locked me way. But I was the one who threw away the key. I was the one who pleaded to be trapped, begged to be chained. His hands trapped my wrists like shackles, containing me against the solid wood of the front door. His breath set burns over my skin, before his lips began freezing over the burns.

Damon hummed pleasantly as he pushed me more roughly against the wall, I gasped in shock and the world suddenly came crashing back to me. My hands rose to try and push Damon away, but his grip was like iron as he kept my hands firmly at my sides. I tried to twist my torso out from where he was pressing me against the wall, but he kept me pinned hard, his pressure only increasing.

"Stay still," Damon commanded as he continued to push me back, and I knew that I couldn't fight against him, but that didn't stop me from trying. Damon pulled back from where he was so that I was forced to look into his ice blue eyes. "_Stay still_." My whole body seemed to heat once more as I looked into his eyes and found myself unable to move once more. Damon's hard, angry face relaxed into a small smirk once more. "Much better,"

I was left in shock once more as I found myself lying on my back moments later on the couch in my living room. My eyes widened as I looked up to see Damon hovering over me, my eyes meeting his, that were no longer the bright sky blue that I had seen so often before, but now a menacing black with dark veins showing through the skin around his eyes.

"Don't scream," he commanded once more, and the air that had been preparing to leave my lungs caught before it had a chance to pass my lips. A pair of long while canines had flashed as he spoke, deadly white daggers that hung over his bottom lip. "Stay silent." Damon's hand grasped low at my jaw, before he turned my head slowly over so that I was looking away to the side. He ducked his head down into my neck, and I felt those long canines as they scraped across my throat. I didn't move, didn't breath, didn't even make a sound as I felt his long teeth begin to press into the skin on my throat.

The bite was gentle at first, but then they just disappeared. I kept my head turned to the side in fear, not knowing what he was going to do next. The Damon that I had spoken with just last night was nowhere to be seen, the demon that kneeled over me was a whole different being. I jumped, trying to scream but finding myself unable to as I felt a sharp piercing pain in the crook of my neck. Damon's hands tightened on my wrists as his jaw locked into place. My mouth fell open in a silent scream, but the sound refused to surface as he held me down, caged my voice within my chest.

His teeth dug deeper into my neck, tearing through the skin as though it were nothing. I could feel the heat of my own blood as it soaked into the black of my shirt, spreading over my skin, pooling in the dip of my collar bone. My eyes began to fog, like I was looking through water, as I continued to look off toward the window on the other side of the room, seeing our reflection in the glass. Reflection, he had a reflection. Was he truly a monster? What had he done to me?

Waking up with a jump, textbooks seemed to fly in about ever direction as I threw myself into a sitting position. Looking around the room, I stared at everything in confusion. _Breaking Benjamin_ continued to play from the speakers on the far side of the room. Sun was beginning to show over the horizon as I continued to just sit still on the couch in my living room, not caring that the pages of my books were getting bent, or the fact that I might be late for school. There was something seriously wrong with Damon Salvatore.

Jumping from the couch I raced upstairs, stumbling once or twice because of a dizzy spell or because my leg was still asleep. Reaching my bedroom, I raced through, throwing the bathroom door open and flipping on the overhead lights. Staring back at me were two curved lines of red, with four deeper indentations of fangs. I could have fainted right there, but I simply grasped the counter for support as my face grew pale.

They knew, they all knew.

I should have known, they way that they were all acting toward Damon, how Stefan had been acting tense for the past couple of weeks, more so in the last couple of days than ever before. Oh, god. Stefan. What about him, was he like his brother, had he fed off of Elena like that. But what about the reflection that I had seen? Damon had a reflection the night before, in the glass from the window. I had seen him, his black form hovering over mine with his face hidden behind my neck.

Taking a deep breath, I turned on the tap and began to splash freezing cold water on my face. I just needed to relax right now, take a deep breath and think things through. Of course Stefan couldn't be like Damon; Elena would never allow something like that to happen to her. I was just going to have to believe that for now. At the moment, I just needed to take a shower, get ready for school and hide this damn bite.

Looking down at my wrist, there were dark rings wrapping around it, Damon's fingers. The bruises were light at the moment, but would surely darken. I didn't need to look at my other wrist to know that there was surely going to be an identical patterning there as well. Closing my bathroom door, I pulled my hair out of the small pony-tail that it had been in and stripped down, tossing my clothes into the hamper, while I stopped to inspect my shirt for a moment. There was a darker spot on the shoulder, but since it was a black shirt, there wasn't much of a way to tell that it was stained.

Moving to the shower, I opened the sliding glass door and slipped inside, turning the tap on to a cool temperature that would remove the burning feeling of panic from my skin. Washing my hair quickly, I was careful around the bite as I cleaned the rest of my body, as well as my wrists, which were quickly becoming tender. Replacing all of the soap to where it belonged, I remained under the spray of the cool water for a few minutes more, just trying to calm myself. But that was only going to work for so long. Turning the water off, I finally removed myself from the shower. Pulling on the towel that had been draped of the hanging rail I moved over to the mirror, which only had a small amount of fog on it this time.

Wiping away the water from the mirror, I looked at the bite once more on my neck. It wasn't as angry red as it was before, now that the blood that had dried around it had been washed off, but the bruise on my wrist was even darker and it had been less than twenty minutes since I had last looked at it. Letting out a small groan of annoyance when I realized that I would have to hide these from the others until I found of it they really did know or not. Continuing to remove the rest of the fog from the mirror, I let out an ear splitting scream at the sight of the dark figure in the background.

Spinning around quickly, my hand flew to my neck before I even thought the movement through. Damon just chuckled at the action, that same smirk in place as he looked at me with crystal eyes. Cold, dead crystal eyes. I pressed myself against the counter, looking over to the door to see that it was still closed. How long had he been in here?

"What's wrong, don't like my company?" Damon asked, taking a step closer to me in the small bathroom. I was trapped, he was too fast and I had nowhere else to run. Closing my eyes, I tucked my head down toward my chest in a horrible attempt to hide my neck. A strong hand grasped my chin and forced it up, my eyes snapping open in the process.

"I thought vampire's had to be invited in." I gritted out, before I looked into his eyes once more.

"Don't tell anyone what happened last night," he commanded, his eyes that same blue, but his pupils had grown as he spoke. "You're going to hide those bruises and the bite, and act like nothing happened. You're not going to fear me, you like me," Damon said, leaning forward to gently place a kiss to me cheek, before he pulled back and looked into my eyes again. "Understand?"

"I understand," I mumbled back as I nodded, before a smile came to my lips and Damon's hand dropped from my chin. "It's nice to see you, Damon. Good morning."

Damon had moved from the room while I got dressed, then wandered back in while I was doing my makeup. I had worn a high collar, long sleeved white shirt with a small black vest that rested overtop. Dark blue jeans and black boots that came just above the ankle, I looked ready to leave when he entered. I finished applying the mascara had I in my hand, not bothering with liner or shadow today. I never wore anything on my lips in the first place.

"Well, don't get all dolled up just for me," Damon grinned, stepping up behind me. I could see his reflection in the mirror as he took hold of my hips and pulled me back against him, taking in a deep breath as his nose brushed over my still damp hair. In a flash I was turned around, facing Damon again with my back against the bathroom counter.

"You're not going to tell anyone that I was here this morning, it's between us," He said, brushing his knuckles over my cheek as he did so. "You don't know what I am," He whispered once more, before he leaned forward once more, but instead of kissing my cheek like before, his lips hovered over mine for a moment, his breath ghosting over my skin, but he pulled away without making any contact. "Have a nice day, babe." He was gone.

"Are you alright, Riley, you're as pale as a sheet," Elena said as I walked with her toward where we were going to be meeting Stefan. There was a fundraiser during the second half of the day, so the students were allowed to go home early. The fundraiser was being held for the kids in the younger schools.

"No, I'm dead tired. I was up all night last night studying for my English test, only to find out that it isn't even today because the teacher forgot about the fundraiser!" I cried, while Elena let out a small laugh at my expense. "Oh, you shut it."

"Hey, don't be mean to Elena," Bonnie teased as she seemed to appear out of nowhere on my other side.

"But she was laughing at me!" I mock whined, getting a new round of laughs from the other girls. I fell silent after that when Elena and Bonnie started talking about the party this weekend, Elena worrying about her little brother going and Bonnie about keeping Caroline in line. They didn't seem to notice when I just stopped talking, and I was fine with that.

"Oh no," Elena mumbled when we stepped into the parking lot, where Stefan was going to waiting at his car, but he wasn't alone. Damon stood at his brother's side, smirking happily while Stefan just looked sour from his brother's presence. "What's he doing here?"

"Hello there, Elena." Damon greeted when she stepped up first, approaching Stefan. "And Bonnie." Bonnie just glared at him, before she bid farewell to everyone else and took off, clearly just wanting to leave before Damon got too close. "Ah, and Riley, pleasant seeing you again so soon." Damon said as he stepped up to me and draped an arm over my shoulder. _'You like me'_

"Hey, Damon," I greeted with a small smile, getting a shocked look from Elena and Stefan, though they tried to hide it.

"So, you guys are buddies now?" Elena asked, trying to be casual, but I could hear the malice and hate in her voice at the thought of such. Damon laughed in fake merriment as he tightened his grip on my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.

"Of course, I even stayed over and helped her study last night." He was hinting them, so they did know what was going on. But I couldn't tell them. I liked Damon, I didn't know what he was, and he wasn't over at my house this morning. "Anyway, I walked here, so I was wondering if I could get a ride. Riley?" Damon looked down at me, a grin in place.

"Sure." I agreed before I even seemed to be able to consider it. Damon smiled and turned toward my bike, somehow knowing that it was mine.

"Riley!" Elena called, stopping my and Damon on our way toward my bike. "I've got something for you." She walked up toward us, pulling something out from her pocket. In her fingers was a bracelet, a metal pendant of some kind hanging on a piece of thick black leather. "It may not be very stylish, but I know that you love black leather." She smiled, shooting a quick glance at Damon, who didn't seem to care for the look.

"Thanks Elena," I said as I took the jewellery from her, tucking it into my pocket. "I can't put it on now because it'll be hard to wear with my bike gloves, but I like it, thank you." Before we could continue talking, Damon pulled me away and led me the rest of the way to my motorcycle. When I was getting onto the bike I felt when Damon reached into my pocket and stole the bracelet, but I didn't stop him. '_You won't wear any of the jewellery that those three or Stefan give you, unless I say otherwise'_

As I slid onto the bike, I pulled the keys out from my other pocket and brought the engine to life before I pulled my helmet on, while Damon slid on behind me, wearing no helmet at all. Looking either way, I made sure that I wasn't going to back out with someone coming, before continuing. Damon's arms wrapped around my waist, while I could feel that his head was turned toward Elena and Stefan.

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**Wow, I'm update chapters faster than I can write them! Alright, the next update will be after 6 reviews, maybe that'll give me some time to catch up! ;)**


	6. They Will Make You Desperate

**They Will Make You Desperate**

As I pulled up into the Salvatore driveway, with the help from Damon's directing, I felt both relieved and saddened that the ride was over. Their house was in the forest, with roads that weren't often driven on, allowing me to speed with behind me Damon hanging on for dear life. Or afterlife.

"Come inside." Damon said, but this time, I didn't feel the need that I _had_ to listen. But I still did. Removing the helmet form my head, I followed after him as he walked me up toward the front entrance, leaving my bike off to the side of the front path. Damon stopped before the door and turned to look back at me, his eyes holding a strange confusion of emotions. I was left in confusion when he offered me his hand. Hesitating a moment, I placed my hand in his, feeling his long, strong fingers wrap around my own.

Opening the front, heavy wooden door, Damon guided the both of us inside. I was shocked at the state of the house, fine wood and fancy designed furniture. There were different book cases that lined the shelves, loaded with books with old worn leather spines, clothe spines even some that seemed to have been repaired with tape. Damon continued to pull me along through the house, toward a set of stairs that lead up toward the second floor, wherever that led. I soon found myself standing in the doorway of a darkly decorated room. Thick Black curtains covered the windows, black silk bed sheets, dark cherry wood desk.

"Come in, I invite you," Damon mocked as he jumped onto the bed, landing on his back with his hands behind his head, relaxed. I stepped inside hesitantly, almost like he had last night when he had bitten me.

"What...are you going to do?" I asked, looking over at him hesitantly. It was undeniable that he was amazingly sexy, and his hair once more had the ruffled affect to it, giving him that bed head look that always seemed to draw me in.

"Come to me," he commanded in a husky voice, beckoning me with on hand while the other remained behind his head. Stepped toward him, I stopped at the edge of the bed, just out of his reach. But that didn't deter him, and I soon found myself on the bed, the cool body of Damon behind me as he tucked me into his form, curve for curve. He inhaled the scent of my hair deeply, before letting out a loud exhale that blew strands forward into my face. "Delicious," He whispered, gently moving the hair away from the back of my neck. But before I could even so much as think of what was going to happen next, I was standing by the front door, a very pissed off Damon beside me.

"Go home." He commanded, and my body pushed me to follow the order. I snatched my helmet from the table by the door and was gone without another glance back at the dark haired male. What the hell was going on? Not only is my body forcing me into the most stupid situations, but Damon get's mood swings words them a woman with PMS.

Swinging my leg over the bike, I started the motor before sliding on my helmet and zipping up the leather jacket around me. Glancing into the mirror of the bike, Damon stood in the doorway still, watching me. Kicking the bike forward, I took off down the driveway at breakneck speed. Flying out onto the road, I berated myself for ever going near Damon Salvatore. Everything was flipped upside down when he was around. I smiled to him, when I truly feared him and wished that he would leave, I gave him a ride, I spent time alone with him. I had to be losing my mind.

I could have sworn that I passed Elena and Stefan's car on my way toward my house, but everything seemed to go by in such a blur that I wasn't really sure what I had seen. Before I knew it, I was pulling into my driveway, opening the door, and throwing my helmet violently against the wall of the garage.

"Guy trouble?" I let out a small shriek as I spun around, started at the unfamiliar voice. A tall male stood behind me, wearing a faded pale brown leather jacket and dark blue jeans. I couldn't see his face very clearly, but I could tell that he had a strong jaw and no facial hair.

"Who are you?"

"Not important," he mumbled back, taking a few more steps into the garage. One of the first signs that you're screwed; when someone refused to tell you their name and tries to corner you. I began to edge toward the corner of the door, hoping to get out, but he caught the movement and before I could blink he had me by the arms up against the wall of the garage. A strangled cry let my throat in shock. He was like him.

"What-what do you want!" I screamed, trying to kick at him but he pulled me back away from the wall for a moment, before slamming me back against it once more. The wind rushed from my lungs, causing me to gag slightly as I attempted to regain the breath that had been forced from me.

"I want Damon Salvatore's head on a platter, and what better way to get to someone, than through other people?"

_Oh, fuck._

I let out a groan as reality came rushing back to me, as well as a pounding headache. Slowly pulling myself up into a sitting position, I looked around myself, trying to blink away the fog that covered my vision. A room; better described as a cell. The walls were all made of stone and the floor was solid concrete. There was a thick metal door, the small window with bars high hear the top. There was no window, if the darkness had anything to show. The only light within the room was from the cracks around the door and the bared window. I couldn't even see so much as a mat, let alone a chair or bed.

Looking down at myself to make sure that everything was intact, I hissed in pain when I saw that my wrists were covered with two soaking wet ropes, that had a strange scent to them. They were digging into the bruises that had been lift when Damon had bitten me. As I thought of the bite, a small sting went through it in remembrance. My white shirt was wet and covered in dirt from lying on the floor, the black vest completely gone. The blue jeans I had warn had gotten torn sometime through my transportation from my house to here, and there was dried blood at the knees, showing that I had scrapped them when I had been thrown in here, but there wasn't much pain from them yet.

As careful as I could, I used the wall and my tied hands to get up onto my feet. Once I was standing, and my eyes had slightly adjusted, it was clear to see that the room was empty of anything and everything, other than myself. Shuffling over toward the door, I had to raise myself up onto the balls of my feet to peer through the bars. More stone walls, but it was lighter out there, and it didn't look artificial. There was a way out close by, but now I had to try and get to it. I let out a small sigh when I realized that that was a hopeless plan.

A face suddenly appeared before the bared window, ripping a scream from my lungs as I stumbled back in shock, losing my balance in it all and colliding with the floor once again. I would have groaned in pain, but I was left staring at the face of my abductor through the hole in the door. I couldn't quite see his face, since it was silhouetted by the light behind him, but I remembered that he was tall, and he was _very_ strong.

"I don't see what that Salvatore likes about you, you're nothing but a kid," He mocked, while I gritted my teeth in anger. "Doesn't matter anyway, as long as that bastard comes."

"What," I began, hearing my voice crack and wishing that I had water. Crap, now I'm even thirstier. "What did Damon do to you that made you take me?" I asked, shuffling back away from the door toward the wall when I heard him exhale loudly out his nose in anger, reminding me of an agitated bull.

"What did he do?" The man asked menacingly, "What did he do!" The door shook as he slammed his hands against it. "He killed my brother! He killed them all!" The door shook again, and small bits of debris began to fall from around the hinges of the door. They wouldn't hold if he kept beating against the door much more. I remained silent, frozen in fright at his actions. "But he's going to get what's coming to him; Karma can be a bitch, after all." And he left, left me in the dark, in the cold, in my own fear.

Shuffling back toward the door quietly and slowly, I listened, hearing a door slam a bit further away. He must had gone inside or something, because it was so cold in this room that it was only logical that I was outside. Looking out into the hall again, I saw that it was a short hallway, if I look out from the very left side toward the right, I could see a door that must have led into the building. Turning to try the same in the other direction, there wasn't as much luck when all I could see was more wall and hallway.

"Damn," I muttered, before I turned my attention toward the hinges on the door. The bolts that were holding them in place were beginning to come loose, but the bolts were thick and strong, and I doubted that I would be able to get them to come out on my own. Looking on the other side of the door, I had to squint in the darkness, I looked through the crack of light to try and see what kind of lock it was that I was dealing with, but all I could see was a dark spot in the light. The crack was too small to see.

Moving away from the door, I limped back toward the furthest corner from the door, now that the pains in my knees were becoming more prominent. Using the wall to slide down to the floor, I fell down onto my butt, not caring that it stung afterword, and tucked my tied up hands in toward my stomach, bringing my knees up and head down.

I never thought that I would think this while in control of myself, but I wanted Damon. I _needed_ Damon.

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**Yay! More Damon Moodswings! Those are always funny to write about. Anyway, 6 more reviews and you'll all get an update! please let me know if there's any information that i may have gotten wrong here. Luvs U!**


	7. They Will Be A Silent Listener

**~Damon~**

Knocking on the front door, I leaned against the frame as I had the night before. But the difference this time, there wasn't a single sound coming from inside. Not only that, but the lights were all off, as well. Riley would usually play music while she worked, or even just read a book. Reaching for the doorknob, I tried to twist it, but to no avail. I knew that it wasn't the smartest thing to break her front door, should she maybe have gone out with friends.

Jogging down the steps of the front porch, I looked up to where her window was. It was on the second floor, window was locked. I remember when I had tried to get in this morning, her window had been locked and I had to snake in through the basement window. I didn't want to give anyone any reason to think that her house was being broken into. Okay, time to see if she left that basement window open.

Walking away from the front lawn, I headed around toward the garage, which led straight through toward the window. However, my stride began to slow when I saw that the door was still open. Looking around the space of the garage, her bike sat where she always kept it, but her helmet lay on the other side of the garage, large scrapes across it showing that it must have been either dragged, or thrown. Picking the black helmet up, I looked around for anything that may have shown if she had done the damages herself, but it just looked like it had hit something with normal, human strength. Turning toward the bike, a red keychain caught my attention; she used it to hold her house-key, bike-key, just about any key that was needed. There was a piece of paper shoved between the glass of the mirror and the metal of the bike. Snatching the paper from its place, I read it through quickly, though thoroughly.

"Fuck!"

The glass cup shattered loudly against the wall as a loud yell tore from my throat, bits of glass flying through the air to chime as they landed on the hardwood flooring. I could hear as Stefan stepped forward, in front of Elena, in a sign of protection. I didn't care though; my head was still pounding as I thought over what I had found. She was gone. Riley was taken from her house.

"Damon," Stefan said in what must have been meant as a controlled voice, but I didn't listen as I turned away from him and Elena quickly, beginning to march out of the room. I wasn't sure where I was going to be going, but I needed to get the hell out of there. I needed to find her. I was an addict without a fix, I was dangerous.

"Damon, you can't help her if you don't think this through," Elena called, stopping me in my tracks. I turned to face her, my eyes showing my anger and the tenseness of my jaw showing my restraint.

"You think I'm not thinking this through?" I asked menacingly, striding up toward my brother and his girlfriend. "Do you think that I'm just going to go off and try to kill myself for her?" Yes, I would. Probably.

"Damon-"

"So it's true." All three heads turned toward the new voice in the room. "Damon Salvatore is falling in love with a human girl." Alaric stood in the doorway, a very rare taunting grin on his face. I let another glare slip into place, one that would make more people cry and run away, but sadly the bastard was immune to it. "So, someone kidnapped Riley?"

"A vampire," Stefan added, "Apparently, it was because of something Damon did and now they want to get back at him for it. They saw him with Riley and must have thought that she was the perfect way to get to him." Alaric stepped into the room further, and I noted with small satisfaction that he purposely avoided my path.

"Any word on where she is?" He asked, looking from me over toward Stefan and Elena again.

"No, he left a riddle, though." I couldn't help but let out an undignified snort at the mention of the riddle. It had to be the most cliché thing in the world to leave a riddle behind as a clue of as to where you can find someone. "_Seek me where I hide, where I spend much time to bide, I love the secret place, your time becomes a race."_

"He's going to kill her if we don't get there in time," I growled out, my anger rising over my annoying to the riddle, at the final line that Stefan recited from the small paper that had been on Riley's bike. "I'm going to kill the bastard when I find him," I growled out, getting a look that I did my best to ignore from Alaric.

"Elena, you hang out with Riley all the time, do you have any idea if this 'secret place' is somewhere that she likes to spend her time?" Alaric asked, gently taking old of Elena's shoulders. Her face was sorrowful as she shook her head. My fist clenched at her answer, she was supposed to know, if she didn't know, then who the hell would?

"Whenever she would need time to herself, she usually would just drive to the country roads on her bike. She loves adrenaline, it makes her feel better," Elena explained, shooting me a glance. That's why she had been speeding like a mad woman while we were driving here this morning. Sexy. I must admit, that was one of the most amazing things I had seen of her, her legs straddling the bike, torso leaned forward, back curved. A sight to see, an even better feeling to be sitting behind with that body curved into your own.

"Damon, was there any chance that you knew if she had a place that she liked the spend time at?" Stefan asked, hesitantly though. I shook my head, knowing that I had never once asked her such a thing, or let her speak about such a thing. She had started out as eye candy, then became a toy, and was soon a fix to my addiction.

"We're getting nowhere with this, we should try to find something at her house," Elena offered, "Maybe we could find a picture or something. I don't think she kept a diary, so we'll have to search a bit harder," She explained, getting an agreeing nod from Stefan and Alaric. She looked over to me, but I just looked at her with the same sour glare that I had been adorned with all evening.

I had been able to slip into the basement window again, since Elena didn't have a key, and let all of the others in. Alaric had taken to looking through some of the family photos while Elena and Stefan looked through the books that she had on Mystic falls, hoping to find a page marked with somewhere that she may like to go. It was useless, she wasn't that kind of person; she liked the things that went on in her life to be kept private, so she wouldn't keep track of it. She had her memory for that, it was her own personal log.

I stood in the doorway of her room, feeling out of place. Her room was red and burgundy. Most of the furniture, like the spread on her bed, her curtains and blinds, the carpet beside her bed; it was all burgundy. While her walls were a lighter shade of burgundy, more with a red tone than the rest of the colours. The woods in her room were all a dark cherry wood, probably very expensive.

Stepping over toward the bookshelf that sat near the corner of her room, close to the desk, I looked through for anything that may have looked like a journal or diary. But whenever I pulled out a notebook, it was just filled with music notes. I felt that annoying feeling in my stomach when I realized that I hadn't known that she liked to play music. Replacing the last notebook on the shelf, I stood from the crouched position that I had been in and looked around the room again.

Moving toward the desk, I flipped through some papers on the desk, but only found homework and letters from her parents, letters from her that needed to be sent. The girl was busy, that's for sure. Picking up a picture frame from the edge of the desk, Riley was smiling back at me as I looked into the image frozen on paper. There was another woman, older, her mother probably, that was sitting to her left. Riley was wearing her short hair up in a pony tail, but her bangs were curling in toward her cheekbones. She was squinting slightly from the sun as she smiled into the camera. A light blue shirt was all I could see, a tank top. There were trees in the back ground, with what looked like water beneath them. A family vacation, maybe.

"Damon?" Elena's voice called through the hallway, sounding tired. I looked over toward the doorway right as she appeared, her arms crossed lazily over her stomach. She glanced down at the picture in my hand, before looking back up at me again. Pity was hidden in her eyes. I may not feel very strong emotions, but I know what emotions look like on other people. Placing the picture back where I had taken it, I turned toward the window that I remember looking in on Riley one night. "You didn't find anything?"

I stayed silent for a moment, knowing that my lack of response was answer enough. As I heard her sigh, while she turned ready to leave, I spoke. "She likes to play music," I said, hearing Elena stop as I looked into my reflection that came off the glass.

"Yea, Riley loves the guitar, but she isn't able to afford one right now," Elena answered, stepping back into the room. I looked away from my reflection to her own, seeing that she was staring at me intently. Waiting. "Do you even know who she really is, or is she just going to be another toy for you, Damon? Just another notch on the bedpost?" I wished more than anything that I could strangle her for that remark, that I could deny it, but I really didn't know how to. "Of course not, you wouldn't care even if your heart still-"

"Her middle name is Madeline," I blurted out before think, swearing to myself in my head for even opening my mouth, "She hates that name. She wants to change it as soon as she's legally allowed, but isn't sure because she doesn't want to hurt her parents." I turned to face Elena again, whose lips were parted in shock from my words. "She loves to swim, loves water. She hates too much makeup and loves the band '_Breaking Benjamin_'," I trailed off, looking away from her face. Great, now it seemed like I actually cared for someone, what the hell did I just get myself into.

"How did you know all that?" Elena asked in a quiet voice, holding awe. I know I shouldn't answer her, my answer will probably come off sounding like I'm a stalker, but I was tired of her accusing me off just wanting her from her blood. Though it was a perk, I loved Riley's blood, such delicious virgin blood. I had at first just wanted to screw with Elena and Stefan, but Riley was different somehow, she sparked something that Caroline couldn't. Maybe I just liked the smart ones more.

I looked up to Elena again, a small smirk on my lips; that had a worried look appearing on Elena's face. "She talks in her sleep."

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**Ta-Da! Another chapter, and not as long to put up this time. Hope that you all like it, and hope that I get a LOT of reviews this time. The next chapter is already finished, but I refuse to post it before 7 reviews. I know, I'm evil!**


	8. They Will Never Forget

**They Will Never Forget**

I jumped as a loud _bang_ resounded through the small room; that had once been quiet as I slept. I fell onto my side in shock, wincing when I tried to use my hands to stop the fall as I landed on my shoulder. I looked around in shock at being as startled as I was when I had been woken up, my eyes squinting against the bright light that had suddenly entered the room.

"So uncoordinated," That same male voice spoke, causing an internal wince as I tried to shuffled back toward the wall once again. He chuckled at the attempt that I made, before he stepped closer, coming to kneel beside me. "Look at what I just found in my pocket," He said, holding out my iPhone. I opened my mouth to cry out for him to give it back, but I quickly snapped my teeth back together. "I had forgotten all about it."

"Please, just let me go, I have nothing that you want, I'm just food to Damon!" I cried out, pulling at my wrists. He just laughed, before I saw the light of the phone as he turned it on, beginning to do something that I wasn't able to see.

"Let's see what Damon's up to," He mocked slyly, and before I knew what was going on, I was pressed against the wall by two more vampires. Yes, they were all vampires, they were all monsters. But Damon..._I don't know what he is._ I let out a chocked gasp, not knowing how it was that I could still be surprised by such speed after being driven through Damon's intense moon swings, before a hard hand clapped over my mouth, keeping my jaw locked shut. I watched as he hit the screen a few times with his thumb, before I suddenly heard the sound of ringing coming through the speakers.

"Hello?" Elena's voice came through the other end, her tone sounding frightened, desperate. I guess they found out that I had been taken, though I still had a tiny thought nagging me about whether she knew about these Vampires.

"Hello my dear, I shouldn't really have to ask, but is Damon there?" The man asked, holding the phone between us, his dark eyes settling on my own. There was a loud crash from the other end of the call, though it sounded muffled since it was coming through a phone. The man chuckled as his eyes darted down to the phone.

"What the hell have you done with Riley?" Damon's voice snarled through from the other end, and I felt that same feeling that I felt when I went over a large hill really fast on my bike. All my insides clenched and seemed to rise and sink.

"Well, she's just fine Damon. Oh, for now at least," He taunted, raising his free hand to stroke a part of my cheek still exposed around the man's hand that was covering my mouth. "Would you like to talk to her, I'm sure that she's just _desperate_ to talk to you, aren't you, love?" He looked up to me again, his hand dropping as well as the other man's, allowing me to speak. He held the phone up closer to my mouth, but as I tried to speak, nothing came out but a quiet strangled noise of panic. The man's brows furrowed in anger, before I felt a steel grip take hold of my arm so tightly it was like all of the tendons were being cut in half.

I screamed. I couldn't hold back the tearful, ear-splitting cry that ripped out of my throat as I tried to pull my arm away from his grip, but he just tightened his hold. Through my plea I hear Elena's voice crying out on the other line, as well as Damon calling out a shill _'stop'_ but the man didn't relent. After my voice seemed to cut off as I ran out of air, the man finally released my arm. Tears streamed down my face as I fell back against the wall, letting the men hold me up.

"You bastard!" Damon's voice snarled from through the phone, which still remained intact in the man's other hand.

"Now, Damon, watch what you say, the prize is in my hands, now," He mocked, looking at me with a disgusting glimmer in his eye. "So, have you figured out my little riddle, I do wish that I could have had longer to think on it, but you were coming much sooner than I had thought that you would, Damon," He sneered, while he reached a hand up to stoke at a tear that was making its way down the trails left behind from tears that had already fallen prior to it. I felt disgusted; I wanted his hands far away from me.

"What do you want?" Elena's voice was shaking as she spoke into the phone, and I knew her pain, I knew her panic at not knowing that was going on.

"I want the Salvatore, alone," The snarled, before his once gentle hand snapped out and latched onto my jaw, twisting my head to the side as he gazed at my neck. A sob escaped my chest before I even knew that it had been forming. "Or else the pet will become the snack,"

"Damon, please!" I screamed, my words muffled as I spoke through clenched teeth. His grip was intensifying on my jaw, sure to leave it sore afterword as I was forced to speak without moving my bottom jaw.

"Yes, Damon, please!" The man mocked again, before he promptly hung up, surprisingly leaving the phone intact. "Oh, you were wonderful, my dear, there truly is no other emotion like fear," He whispered, before he let out a bark of a laugh and turned to leave, dropping the phone onto the floor right inside the door, before the men released me. Without something to help keep me up, I tumbled down onto my knees, before I held out my roped up hands to try and stop the painful impact.

I just lay there, hearing as the door swing closed once more, before the metallic sound of a bolt sliding into place seemed to echo in the room as it sealed my fate. After a couple of minutes of lying on the ground, I finally raised my head and looked into the darkness of the room, my eyes only lightly adjusted, but I was still able to see the phone that lay on the ground before the door. Walking over toward it with a bit of a struggle, I saw that the screen was cracked, most likely from the impact on the stone floor.

Picking the phone up from the floor, I hit the home button, watching as the screen came to life. Sliding the lock, I watched as my call listing appeared. Scrolling down the screen, I came to Elena's number and hesitated only a moment before I hit the button of redial. I had to bring up both my arms to hold the phone up to my ear, hearing as it rung once, before the sound of someone picking up reached my hearing.

"Riley!"

"Elena," I whimpered slightly, hearing as she let out the slightest sigh.

"Are you alright, what did he do to you, is he still there?" I could hear as things shifted on the other line before a small thud signalling the phone had been set down, meaning that I must have been on speaker and all three were there.

"Yea, I'm fine, they left," I replied, using my hand as best I could to wipe away some of the tears on one of my cheeks.

"'They', how many are there?" Stefan's voice called through the line.

"Three, just that I know about, I don't know how many are here for sure," I explained, looking over to the door in fright at the thought of there being more, many more. I was going to become a banquet for these things!

"Do you know where you are," Damon's voice called through, asking the question as though it were the most important of them all. I longed to actually see him before me, not just hear him though the broken cell phone. Oh, god, when had I become so wrapped up in him?

"No, I'm in a cell kind of room, it's below ground, and outside, maybe a cellar. But there's no window and I can't see much through the window in the door. Just another door leading into my guess, a house," I explained, carefully manoeuvring myself back over toward the far corner, using the wall to once more slide down to the floor.

"You need to tell us as much as you can about where you are and what state things are. They wouldn't just leave your phone there with you for no reason; they want me to find you, and I swear I will," Damon's voice caused my body to relax back against the wall, my head falling against the cold stone, moist with condensation.

"My wrists are tied in wet rope, my vest is missing. The cell has nothing in it, the door has a bared window on it, about 1ft' by 1 ft'. The door is metal, I can't tell how thick from here," I named off everything that I could think that was of some semblance important, "I think I'm outside, cause it smells like wood and it's cold and wet."

"Can you hear anything from outside when you stand by the door?" Elena asked, and I held in a groan as I worked to pull myself back up, once more using the wall, before I limped over toward the door. Standing beside it, I pulled the phone away from my ear and listened carefully, concentrating on the sounds that may be coming from the other side of the hall that may lead outside. Birds, lots of birds, and heavy wind, and...

"Water," I mumbled, hearing as Elena called through the phone, asking what I had said. I pulled the phone back up toward my ear, the mic by my lips, "Water, I can hear water. Like a small waterfall, if it's raining then that's out the window, or lack thereof; and I can hear birds and wind. Not much else, sorry," I panted, making my way back over toward the corner, praying to god that they didn't need me to get back up again.

"Riley, are you alright?" Elena asked quickly, while I slid to the ground.

"I'm fine, just tired. Some bumps and bruises, won't kill me." I grinned, hoping that I sounded reassuring, but I knew that Elena being Elena wasn't going to buy it. I leaned against the wall, taking in deep breaths as I tried to calm my suddenly racing heart, "I'm sorry, guys, I can't keep talking," I panted out, before the phone slipped from my hand as my arms seemed to become too heavy to keep up, my body feeling as though it were on fire, acid running through my veins. The phone slid off my lap; before I slid down off the wall, passing out before I even hit the floor.

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**I'm sorry that this chapter may seem shorter and not as interesting, but please bare with me. Give me 8 reviews, the faster I get those reviews, the faster I'm going to update!**


	9. They Will Always Protect What's Theirs

**They Will Always Protect What's Theirs**

"_Don't even think about it-"_

"_Just one bite-"_

"_Back off! She's mine!"_

I groaned inwardly as the male voices surrounded me, leaving behind an uncomfortable feeling. I wish that I didn't have to open my eyes, didn't have to show that I was awake and they could continue with whatever they were planning to do with me. But when I felt my heart begin to race, and the men fall silent from their arguing, I knew that they had already discovered me. Instead of prolonging my fate, I opened my eyes to look at the men surrounding me.

"Well, look who has rejoined the word of the living," one of the men commented as he leaned into my line of sight. I recoiled away when I saw the look of his face, shuddering in fright as I remembered Damon's face right before he bit into my throat. I looked away from him, but was greeted once more by the same man that had called Elena's phone.

"Hello again, my dear, and how did you sleep?" He asked as he gently took my jaw into his hand, but I knew that he was capable of snapping the bone like it was a twig. "Well, actually I already know that. Did you know that you talk in your sleep?" He asked as a coy smirk appeared on his lips, "You're very tired, and your knees are killing you, you wonder if Damon-"

"Shut up!" I finally screamed, cutting him off. The smirk on his face grew at my outburst, before he turned away laughing, making his way off into the darkness of the new room that I found myself in. There was a very old hanging light above my head, which was annoyingly flickering in and out. I tried to crane my head to look around the rest of the room, but when I felt a rough and calloused finger slide across my throat, I immediately, tucked my chin to my chest and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Where's the girl with the spirit?" The man called somewhere from behind me, mocking me. I didn't move and didn't respond, knowing that it wouldn't help me in the least, since I was roped to a table and stunk like spices. "It's a pity, two days and still he hasn't come, I guess you really weren't worth it," He appeared before me again, this time standing behind me so that he was leaning over and I was looking at him upside down.

"But we can always just give a little," He hummed in thought, sounding more and more like a crazy psychopath than anything else, "taste." I held back a scream when he suddenly leaned down and slid his tongue along my throat, leaving a cold, wet trail behind. I shuddered in disgust, wishing my hands were free so I could swat him away and tear off my skin.

"Two days?" I mumbled out, trying not to give him what he wanted and scream at him again, acting 'with a spirit' again. He chuckled against my throat, before two long canines slid along my shoulder, that had become exposed as my shirt slid off slightly through my apparent two days unconscious. The painful feeling of tearing skin let me know that his fangs had left two long lines along my neck, before his tongue once more glided over the crimson liquid cuts. He hummed in approval.

"There it is," He whispered to himself as he pulled away from my neck, "That's why he's so smitten with you." He ducked back down and bit ferociously into my shoulder, tearing a scream from my throat again, tears burning my eyes as the pain shot through my arm and neck, the shoulder itself beginning to throb in pain.

"Get off! Leave me alone!" I screamed as I thrashed on the table, trying to dislodge him, but since my arms were down it was proving difficult, but when you are blinded by pain you'll try just about anything. Lifting one of my booted feet, I praised my own flexibility and slammed the toe of my boot behind his shoulder blades, after lifting up my torso for added force.

"You bitch!" He screamed as my shoulder was finally released, the man stumbling away in shock at the action against him. I continued screaming as pain jolted in waves through my arm and neck, pounding against my temple. "Shut up!" A hand clamped down around my throat, silencing the sound that was leaving my mouth in an instance, as well as the air that made its way into my lungs on short periods.

"You can't kill her, Damon will never come," The other man in the room reminded, and the grip on my throat tightened, causing the blood circulation to stop, before it released all together. I took in a large breath of air, so much that most came back out in a cough, before I greedily took in more once again.

"Fine, but you had better keep her down from now on," He snarled, before he disappeared once more, the light continuing to flicker above my head. A door slammed to my right, leaving me in silence with the last man remaining in the room.

"Delicious," I jumped at the sound of the voice coming from right beside my head, near the bite that had been inflicted on my shoulder. "I don't suppose there's anything wrong with a small taste," He leaned forward, and I could only watched as he opened his mouth to chow down, before he froze and slightly down the table, a small smirk appearing on his face. "On second thought, the veins taste so much better."

His head disappeared from beside me and I felt the rope around my right wrist being removed, the liquid that it had been soaked in seeming to slow the creature down. But soon it was undone and my arm was locked in a strong hold, down against the table. I tried to pull away, before that same tearing pain brought a scream from my lips, when a free hand soon clamped over my mouth, keeping the sounds muffled and gagged. Reacting out of instinct, I took the first flesh I could between my teeth and bit down as hard as I could. I felt as the skin gave beneath my teeth, but the hand tore away in shock and pain before I could tear away the flesh. I used the advantage and rolled off the table onto the other side as the man, using my free, bloody hand to struggle with the ropes, the liquid dripping from my fingers.

"No!" The man lunged from across the table, holding his bleeding hand against his chest. I ducked low, causing him to miss and go flying into the wall behind me, a resounding thud reaching my ears, I quickly pulled the ropes free and threw them at him, remembering that they had seemed to slow him down. Running around the table in a rush, I threw open the door that the other man had left through.

It was that same stone hallway. So this was where that other door led, but this wasn't a time to reminisce. Bolting down the hallway, I raced past the cell that I had been trapped in and down the dirty hall, toward the other end that I prayed led outside. Throwing open a thick, decaying wooden door; I was greeted with stairs, leading up. Racing up the stairs, I looked up in time to glimpse trees, and stars. Cold air rushed around me as I ran, bolting up the stairs as fast as my aching, tired legs could allow me.

Reaching the top of the steps, I stumbled as one of my knees seemed to give way for a moment, before I picked myself right back up and continued my run. I couldn't see a thing, which led to my first problem, my second; I was bleeding profusely through my wrist and shoulder.

I looked through the trees in fright, hearing my own heart pounding loudly in my ears. My throat was painfully tight and dry from the running that I had been doing and the lack of water, my legs burning and beginning to buckle under me as I stumbled over roots and through large piles of leaves that had gathered up over the fall and winter, while it was now spring once more and new leaves were beginning to bud up on the tree tips.

"Help me!" I screamed out with a scratchy voice, stumbling over yet another root. But I wasn't able to catch myself as fast as I had the other time. I tumbled forward, my right shoulder slamming against the trunk of a dying tree. Some of the bark blew off from the hit against it and showered down on me as I laid still. I wanted to move, I wanted to run. But I couldn't. I was unable to get up again; my whole body was screaming 'no' while my whole mind was screaming 'run'.

"So, are you finally going to give up?"

I shuddered against the dirt and leaves covering the forest floor, not turning to look at the horrifying face that I had been have nightmares about for nights now. I could feel as he moved to stand over me, a foot on either side of my stomach, before his hand buried in my hair, pulling my head up from the ground as I let out a shriek of pain.

"Leave me alone!" I cried, hearing as he let out a shuddering laugh into my ear, before I felt the slick wetness as he ran his tongue along my neck from shoulder to jaw. I trembled violently as he inhaled deeply against my skin.

He hummed happily as he buried his nose in my hair, before I was rolled over so fast that my head smacked to the side against the same tree my shoulder had collided with. I let out a started, short cry before my head was once more being turned to the side as his tongue glided over my skin as second time, this time accompanied by a pair of long sharp daggers along my throat.

"Devine."

He lunged for my neck again, but his teeth were only able to snap at air before he was violently torn away from me, the sound of wood cracking telling me that he had connected with a tree, and probably snapped in half by the sound of it. Not knowing, or wanting to know, what had taken him, I began to drag myself through the leaves, using a root that was sticking from the ground to pull myself further. A male scream from behind me had my arm working harder to pull myself, while my other was uselessly tucked to my stomach, the shoulder and wrist torn and burning.

A hand took my good shoulder before I could continue, and I swung at them in an attempt to get them to release me, screaming once again. The hand came back and grabbed my wrist, stopping me from hitting them. "Riley!" I froze at the voice, knowing that it must had been a trick, had to be a trick. He hadn't come in two days, why would he have been here now. I looked none the less, and through the darkness I could see that same square jaw, dark messy hair and the slightest hint through the shadows. A sob escaped my throat before I was able to prevent it, and the hand that was holding my arm pulled me up against the familiar hard chest that had once had me pinned to my front door, and I was lifted from the dirt covered ground. I had never felt so light in my life.

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**Just to make this short and simple, 9 reviews = update! :P**


	10. They Will Claim Their Obsession

**They Will Claim Their Obsession**

**~Damon~**

Her blood covered my clothing, sending violent quakes of anger through my body as I clutched her tightly against my side, though was sure not to hurt her delicate frame. If I hadn't already, I would go back and rip those men limb from limb. I looked away from the road long enough to spare a glance to Riley, whose head was lying against my chest, sitting on my lap. I didn't want to take the chance of her sitting on her own, with the injuries that she had. I had used my button up shirt to dress the bite on her wrist and to just place something to hold the blood on her shoulder, trying to stop it.

"Damon," She mumbled, her voice sounding too dead as she remained limp in my arm. I gritted my teeth and forced the car to speed faster down the road toward the house. Elena and Stefan had gone to visit Alaric tonight to see if he had been able to find anything in her records to help us find her, but I solved the puzzle. I knew it wasn't a time to be cocky, but I had solved it.

_I looked through the window as Riley rolled over once more in her sleep, for about the tenth time since I had perched on her window. Her hair had already gotten that bedhead look to it and was slicking out in an odd direction as she lay on her stomach. I could smell a small draft of air that came from her room through the cheap window trim, masking me in her strong, pure sent._

"_The river..." She mumbled suddenly, turning back over onto her back, her arm throwing out to the side to show a thin scar by her elbow. "You promised...we could go back," She rolled once more, this time almost going off the bed as she still just on time to remain on her side. I wasn't sure if she was having a nightmare, or if her dreams were just very odd compared to most._

The river. She had been dreaming about a river that first night that I spent outside of her window, a river that she wanted to go back to, that someone had promised to take her to. There was water in the background of the picture that had her and her mother on her desk. In her sleep, she had said that they could go back, not just go once. She had been there and liked the area. On the phone, she said that she could hear water, like a small waterfall, an offset to the main river that her family was at.

"It burns," She whispered, and my gut tightened as I sped toward the house at the fastest that the car could take.

Riley lay still within the dark black silks that I had placed over my bed, her pale skin contrasting dangerously with the shade. She hadn't been anywhere near this pale when I had last seen her lying on this bed, almost three days ago, and now she was paper white. I gently reached a hand to run it over her cheek, feeling the warmth had begun to return to her. She shifted into the hand, her skin sliding against my own as she turned her head. I pulled my hand away, watching her closely for any sign that my blood didn't heal something properly, not that that had ever been a problem before.

"Damon!" The front door slammed, but I didn't rise from where I was sitting right away. After a moment more, I stood, and headed for the stairs. Stepping outside my room, I knew that I shouldn't be leaving her; I knew that she was still fearful that everything would fall down again.

"You called," I grinned, standing at the halfway landing on the stairs, leaning forward with my hands on the rail. Elena and Stefan turned from where they were heading toward the living room, pretty ironic for the house to be owned by two dead people. Elena gasped loudly as a hand rose to cover her mouth, while Stefan's jaw locked. I was only confused a moment, though didn't show it, before I realised that I was still covered in Riley's blood.

"Damon," Stefan began, and I recognised the accusing tone, knowing that he could recognise the smell Riley's blood, not just any humans.

"I saved her," I interrupted, pushing away from the railing, and starting to walk down the steps. "I figured out the puzzle, I found her."

"Where is she, is she upstairs?" Elena asked as she began to walk toward the stairs, but I moved into the centre path, blocking her way up toward my room as my grin disappeared and a hard mask came into place.

"She's sleeping," I growled out, watching as she backed up once again, watching me cautiously. "It was the river, she had talked about it in her sleep before, somewhere that she really liked to go," I explained, relaxing my stiff stance as I guarded the stairs, before I began to take off the undershirt that I had been wearing beneath my button up shirt.

"What about," Elena trailed off, but it was clear to what she was saying.

"Gone," I said simply, bunching up the blood covered shirt as I shrugged my shoulders, not caring at all that I was shirtless then. "Wish that it hadn't been so painless though," I added, getting a warning look from Stefan; that I promptly ignored as Elena's eyes widened. It was true, the bastard deserved to be tortured within an inch of death, left to heal, and have the process repeated.

"When can I see Riley?" Elena swiftly changed the subject, and I knew that Stefan was glad for the change, not wanting Elena to have to hear anything more than she had to, like how I had killed those vampires without a second thought, other than to go back and try to do so more painfully.

A bloodcurdling scream cut off the comment I was ready to make, while Elena seemed to jump almost out of her skin from the sound. I turned and bolted up the stairs before there was time for the other two to even think of saying something. I was standing just within the doorway when I froze, seeing as Riley thrashed on the bed the black sheets being shoved away to show the black dress shirt that I had put her in after removing her bloody and dirty shirt, before promptly burning it. Striding to the bed quickly, I jumped up so that I was kneeling by her legs, before taking hold of her flailing arms, and shook her once just slightly violently, waking her with a start.

I was expecting the crying, since she had the first time she saw me, but not when she threw herself up against me as she wrapped her arms around my torso, her blunt nails digging deeply into my bare back, leaving crescents in the skin. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, more in shock than anything else, as she buried her face against my throat. I could hear Elena gasp quietly from behind me, Stefan remaining silent at her side.

"Come on, let's go, you can talk to her later," Stefan whispered to Elena, so that only her and I could hear. Riley's body was beginning to tremble in my arms, causing my grip on her to tighten as I tried to hold her still. The door closed quietly behind my brother, leaving Riley and I alone once more, though a part of me wished Elena could help tell me what to do to comfort her, but the possessive part of me didn't want anyone else near her but me while she was so vulnerable. Not sure what to do, I wrapped my arms lower around her waist area, pulling her up off the bed, her legs coming around my hips in a death grip. I sat back on my heels, letting her sit on my thighs as her tears continued to fall.

"I was so frightened, Damon," she sobbed heavily, her nails continuing to bite into the skin of my back, growing in force as well. "Oh, god," she nearly screamed, I could feel her teeth against my skin as her mouth opened as she spoke, sending a shiver through me. Ignoring the primal urge to feed, I held onto her tightly and picked her up from the bed, smelling the dried blood that was still crusted on some parts of her arm and shoulder. With her legs wrapped tightly around my waist, I kept her up with my arms as I made my way toward the large bathroom connected to the room.

Not saying a word, I stepped up to the large shower in the far corner of the 's tears didn't cease, but her sobs quieted greatly, as well as the shaking of her body. Loosening one arm around her waist, I turned on the water to the shower, making sure that it was body temperature for her, before stepping inside. I knew that we both still had clothing on, and personally I wouldn't have minded at all to strip them off, but Riley wasn't like that, and oddly, I considered her thoughts before proceeding. Riley jumped slightly at the sudden wetness that hit her back, but didn't protest, merely lifted her head to allow the water to hit her face, cooling her now heated skin from her tears.

Leaning against the tile, the coolness sending a momentary shock through my abused back, I slid down the wall to sit on the floor under the spray of water. Riley's head remained lifted, her hands moving up to my chest to keep herself supported. Her cheeks were splotched with red from her crying, the blood rising to the surface in certain areas. Her lips were cracked and dry from the lack of proper care through the days, her skin still far to pale. Reaching up to her shoulder, exposed around the shirt she wore, I wiped at the blood that was beginning to wash away slowly. She looked down, jumping lightly, her eyes wide after the action.

"I'm just getting rid of the blood," I explained, keeping my voice low and even. She looked down at me for a moment, while my hand remained still at the crook of her neck. Suddenly, she ducked down and curled up, her legs tightening on my hips, while her head tucked down under my chin. The water continued to shower on us, dripping off my bangs and onto my face.

"Thank you, Damon," She whispered, her voice trembling just slightly, "I don't know if I could have lived if-" Her voice cut off and her legs tightened again, as though she were afraid that even mentioning my not being there, would make me disappear. "Thank you," She whispered again, leaving it at that. "How did you know where to find me, though? I've never told anyone about the river."

"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" I asked, and felt as her whole body seemed to tense up like a taut cord.

"Don't say that," She mumbled, not lifting her face, "_he _said that," She declared, and I realized that he must have been around while she was asleep and used whatever had happened against her. "I," She stopped a moment, her body beginning to relax only slightly within my arms, "I spoke about you, apparently."

"Oh?" I asked, a small smirk coming to my lips, maybe she just needed her life to go back to before she saw that man. "And what may you have been dreaming of me for, my darling?" I teased, feeling as her body relaxed further. "Dreaming that we continue our bedroom adventure, or maybe our bathroom scene?" I felt her head lift just slightly from my chest and continued, "We could now, actually, though you'd have to lose that shirt, and my pants-"

"Shut up," She snapped lightly, though there wasn't as harsh of a tone as there was before. I had her.

"What, I'm just curious, you were the one to think this through," I went on, gently taking her wrist in my hand and bringing it to my lips. The blood that had been dried there had washed away, rubbed off by the cuff of the shirt. I gently placed a kiss to the blue vein showing through the skin, before running the tip of my tongue along it. She shivered above me, her free hand gripping into a fist against my stomach.

"Damon," She hushed quietly, her wrist pulling from my hand, before her palm came to rest against mine, her fingers straightening mine out as though she were measuring out hands. I was surprised at how long and elegant her fingers were, like she could be a pianist. Her fingers then curled down between my own, holding my hand still palm to palm. I allowed her to lift my hand, raising it to her lips this time, placing a ghost of a kiss against the wrist bone, before up further at my knuckles.

"Or," I dropped my voice as I spoke, my eyes beginning to close as I watched her. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted, like a cat scenting something new. Her hair was sticking to her neck and shoulders, her cheeks and forehead, flat down against her skull, and in my opinion, she never had looked sexier than at that moment. "We could finish," I pulled myself up, once more leaving the sentence to hang, levelling myself with her, as her eyes opened slightly, the soft brown peeking out from beneath, "Our kiss," I whispered finally, coming close enough so that our noses nearly touched, but stopped there, and had no more intention of moving until she made the final decision.

Her eyes closed again, and she moved. Her lips came to brush mine just the slightest bit, barely even felt, before she pulled away, almost recoiling. But she had sealed the fate that was set for her anyway, as I placed a hand behind her head at the base of her skull and pulled her back, my eyes closing. But I didn't need to see to know the look of shock that accompanied that gasp that tore from her throat. I pressed my lips to hers, not hungrily, not demandingly, but hard enough that she understood that it was not going to be worth fighting against. I didn't force a kiss, I didn't shove my tongue down her throat. I wasn't a rapist; I was trying to bring back the fighting girl, the curious girl; that I had become so obsessed with. And I pulled away, looking her dead in the eyes.

"Are you afraid?" I asked, knowing how cliché the line was to anyone's hearing, but didn't bother with that fact at the moment, I didn't want her to say yes, but I wanted to know what I was dealing with.

She sat still for a moment, water running down her face and pushing her bangs almost into her eyes, she finally released my hand and raised hers up to push her hair away from her face, her eyes closing. I knew that that was more the just to protect her eyes, she was thinking and needed to do so without showing her thoughts within her eyes. But I could easily feel the torment that buzzed within her, the rush of her blood as her heart pushed it quickly though her veins. I took in a deep but discrete inhale. Blood.

"No," She finally whispered, her hands falling back down onto my chest, her eyes opening once more as her true emotions were revealed to me. "I'm not afraid," She said as she leaned toward me and pressed the slightest kiss to the corner of my mouth, before she added quietly, her face hidden from my view, "Of you."

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**There's some Damon/Riley lovin'! Hope you all like this chapter, and I hope I can update sooner than it took my last time, I'm looking for 10 reviews this time. Encase people haven't noticed, I'm asking for the number of reviews for the chapter number. Hope to get those reviews soon! And I hope I didn't make Damon seem...off** .


	11. They Will Trap You

**They Will Trap You**

The cool air brushed my skin as I leaned beside the now open window, revelling in the fresh air of the forest that greeted me. Taking in a deep breath, I allowed myself one more moment of peace before I was forced to meet up with the Elena and Bonnie bomb squad. Damon had told me that he had snapped at Elena pretty badly when she had tried to come and seem me the first time they found out, before I awoke from the nightmare about the man that I learned was name Jackson; Damon promised to explain everything to me in time.

"Ready?" I looked back to see Damon leaned against the desk a few feet away, dressed in black jeans, black undershirt and a black denim jacket over top. His hair was tussled again and his eyes seemed more intense than normal. He was thinking over something very hard. Yes, I could pay attention as well. Damon was actually getting easier to read as I hung out with him more, though it would take a while to adapt to his strange permanent PMS symptoms, and then there was the fact that there were holes in my memory.

"Not really," I mumbled, before letting a small smile claim my lips, "let's go." As I moved to walk past him, Damon's gripped my elbow, his long fingers wrapping around the joint, as I was forced to stop. I watched as his hand ran down the cloth covered arm, since I was wearing one of his shirts once again and a pair of sleeping pants that he had pulled out from somewhere. Apparently he just slept in his boxers, when he did sleep. His hand stopped at my wrists where the bruises that he had caused remained, though faded. New ones had also formed over top from the ropes that had been digging into my wrists for so long.

"They hurt," Damon said, not looking away from the dark skin. I tried to pull it away, feeling strange as he stared at my wrists with such an intense look. It was just a mark; they weren't as sore as they had been when I first got my sanity back, when we got out of the shower. God, that was embarrassing, and he kept teasing that he should stay in the room to make sure that the clothes he gave me suited me. I just glared at him, dripping wet. Needless to say, that plan didn't work and came to me threatening to call for Stefan and Elena.

"Not that much, they're starting to heal, I heal fast when it comes to bruises," I explained, feeling his grip tighten just slightly in warning to stop trying to pull away. I did, though only because he could snap my wrist had he really wished to. I may not know what he was, but I knew that he was strong, like _them._

Damon's other hand moved over to take hold of my opposite elbow, guiding my forward to stand in front of him, my legs between his as he released my arms and moved to my hips, looking me in the eye. When he was partially leaning and partially sitting on the desk we were finally the same height; though he was only a couple inches taller in the first place. He broke eye contact first as his head dipped down until his face was buried in my neck, the collar of his shirt pushed aside. I didn't jump this time, when I felt his tongue gently slide across the bite mark that he had left on my throat. I expected him to move to bite me again, but he simply placed a wet kiss to the bite before pulling away.

"So, let's go see how the girls are doing," Before I had a chance to protest, Damon had lifted me up onto his shoulder, his arm over the backs of my knees so that I didn't tip backwards. I was left gasping in shock at the fast movement, my hands grabbing at his back pockets to try and steady myself, the fact that he wore no belt pulling the material down slightly. "Riley, we can't do that, now refrain from stripping me," Damon teased as he began to walk toward the door. I growled in annoyance as I wiggled to try and adjust myself on his shoulder, but that just caused his hand to come up and smack me on the ass.

"Damon!" I almost screeched at his action, but he just laughed merrily as he descended the stairs, causing me to bounce slightly on his shoulder, that was beginning to dig uncomfortably into my gut. "Next time, let me walk on my own, you have boney shoulders," I complained, but knew better than to try and move around to get more comfortable.

"Alright," Damon agreed and I soon found myself being cradled, my eyes closed tightly at the rush that it brought about. When I finally opened them, Damon's face was inches from my own, a smirk in place. I swallowed, causing his eyes to snap down to my neck. His smirk faded slightly as he walked further into the room that we had entered, and I was placed on the couch gently between two other bodies. He moved back and fell into a seat on the other side of the room, his jaw locked and his face hard. I couldn't take my eyes off of him; his stony posture made him look just that much more like he was carved from marble.

"Riley?" I looked over in shock at Elena's voice and saw that she was one of the people that I had been placed between, looking to my other side, my suspicions of Bonnie sitting there were confirmed. They were only still in shock for a moment more before they had me locked in a hug, four arms coming around my shoulders tightly.

"You're alright, aren't you, they didn't do anything?" Elena asked as she looked to my neck, but she was on the side that had been healed by Damon, the other was the side that still had his bite lingering, that was beginning to scar over.

"Um, Elena," Bonnie insisted, and I knew that we were busted. Elena leaned over me to look at the other side of my neck, gasping as her hand moved toward it, but I moved out of the way when I remembered that only a couple of minutes ago Damon had licked it. I looked up to him as I thought, seeing him smirking at my reaction.

"Actually," He began, "If you can see, that one is old." Damon stated, and both girls turned to look at him, their faces holding identical looks of death. "What, you were the ones that didn't protect her well enough."

"Damon," Stefan's voice drifted from behind us. I leaned my head back against the couch, looking upside down at Stefan. He raised an eyebrow at my action, and I mimicked the action, getting a small chuckle from him before he stepped around the couch to join the rest of us, and probably keep his brother in line. As I looked over to Damon again, I once more found his face stony and cold, but his eyes were locked on my neck. Note to self, refrain from exposing neck.

"I think," I began, looking Damon dead in the eyes as I spoke, "It's time I was filled in on a couple of details." The room went silent, something that I was really beginning to hate. I continued to look at Damon, seeing as his features shifted slightly to anger, and I knew that it was directed at me, he was hoping that he would be able to explain it to me, and warp a few details. But he can't do that with witnesses.

"Riley," Elena began, her voice holding excuse and protest.

"No," I cut her off, "You're going to tell me, one way or another, I'm not going to left in the dark anymore." None of them seemed pleased to be on this subject, neither did any of them seem to want to begin first. So I did it for them. "Vampires exist," I started, then looked up to Stefan, knowing that Damon wasn't going to say anything helpful, "Now it's your turn."

He hesitated, his eyes darting to Elena, I could see her nod her head from the corner of my eye. "Damon and I are vampires," He continued, then looked down to his brother, as though it was show and tell and it was his turn to tell.

"We can go into sunlight because of the rings we wear," Damon answered grudgingly, his jaw still taut. At least he wasn't thinking of my blood anymore.

"How could you make me do all those things?" I asked, seeing as his hand tightened into a fist on the arm of the chair. "Damon!" I yelled, Bonnie and Elena jumping on either side of me, I was going to get me answers, _one way or another._

"Compulsion," He answered, his voice having dropped. He leaned forward in his seat and let his hands relax from fists, his eyes never straying from mine. "We can do many things, Riley, it would be best that you didn't know them all," He said, waiting for me to break eye contact first. I leaned forward as well, so that we were level again, my elbow leaning on my knees as I challenged him.

"Try me."

"You made me like you!" I screamed as I threw another book at Damon, but he once more ducked out of the way and the book nearly went into the fireplace, where the lit fire roared. Elena, Bonnie and Stefan had left the war zone for their own safety. "You wouldn't let me except gifts!" I threw another book, though I already knew that it wouldn't hit him, it was just to let out some of my anger. Damon ran forward this time, so that he was standing in front of me.

"Just because you're angry doesn't mean you need to trash the house," He said as he frowned down at me.

I growled and swung at his head with a candle stick, whipping his head to the side from the movement. Now I know why he didn't want to tell me, he was hiding all of this from me, that bastard! I turned away from him then, clutching the arm that I had used to hit him with the candle stick. I had twisted my wrist awkwardly in to process and it was beginning to throb dully. Marching to the door quickly, I threw open the heavy wood and started out. I didn't care if it took an hour to walk home half naked, I wasn't staying.

An arm around my waist had other plans as I was lifted from the ground, tearing an angered and annoyed scream from my lips as Damon began to carry be back up the front steps. This was how things had been going for the past 30 minutes. I would throw a tantrum, try to injure Damon, and bolt from the house, he would catch me, bring me back inside, and the cycle would repeat, but it was a different room every time.

"No!" I screamed as I started kicking my legs around like a child, trying to dislodge myself from Damon's hold. He struggled to keep me in his arms as he was forced to stop walking so that he wasn't thrown off balance. I continued kicking, tugging and tearing at his arm to try and get him to let go. I had lost Damon's sleep pants a while ago when I had tried to run and he grabbed the hem, but I just slipped out of them and kept going in some of my own underwear that Elena had brought over, though had somehow forgot the shirt. I think Damon hid it before I could get to it, just liking me in his shirts.

"Riley-"

"Let me go!" I screamed again, before we fell to the ground as Damon lost balance when trying to keep my in the air. I landed on my back, while Damon remained behind me with his arm still around my waist. I tried to roll away, feeling as my heart began to accelerate in my chest from the energy that I was using to get away from the vampire before me. I ended up rolling to face him, while Damon righted himself to kneel over me, his hands moving to grab my arms instead. I continued to scream and yell and I kick at his thighs and tried to get in a hit to the groin, but he protected himself well.

"Stop!" He finally yelled, giving me a hard shake that had my head swinging back and collided with the pebbles of the walk way. I groaned as the small rocks dug against my skull, ceasing in the screaming and cussing that had been flying from my lips. Damon remained above me, his face masked in anger and annoyance, and relief.

"Bastard," I mumbled out once more, before giving up. My head fell back again, and I let out a great sigh as I felt the burning in my muscles, telling me that it was good to give up, it was restful to give up. Damon didn't relax the death grip he had on my arms right away, since I'm sure he still thought I was going to bolt. I was limp as a rag doll as he pulled me up again, my head rolling back.

"This would be easier if you cooperated," Damon said, but I didn't reply and continued my 'play dead' act. Damon sighed and pretty much threw me in the air so that he could place an arm beneath my knees and shoulder properly, before I once more found myself being carried inside. I cursed my tiredness for making me give up so easily.

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**I am going to say this once, STOP TELLING ME TO UPDATE! It's nice to know that you all want an update, but when I say a certain amount of reviews first, don't tell me to update when I already said I wouldn't! It's up to everyone else!**

**11 reviews before the next update.**


	12. They Will Bite Back

**They Will Bite Back**

I woke as the bed lifted from beside me; apparently someone had removed themselves from where they lay next to me. I tried to ignore the fact that someone had been in my bed with me, but I found myself wide awake with the fact that I didn't have silk sheets and my room didn't smell like spices. Sitting up in the bed quickly, my hair flew forward into my face, before bouncing back into place from the bed-head curls.

Damon sat in the chair behind his desk, back to the window, facing me. His blue eyes once more had that strange glow to them, that inhumane glow. At least now I knew why they seemed so inhumane, they _were_ inhumane. He had a glass of what I took a shot in the dark to be scotch, or some kind of alcohol. He was wearing only a pair of sleeping pants, shocking me slightly, while his chest was bare.

"Hm, like the view?" He teased when I continued to just look at him. If I could have growled at him I would, but I was human, and I couldn't make the same kinds of noises that Damon could, or Stefan as well, probably. I wished that I could have been angry at him, but the sight of him shirtless and in dark pants caused me to remember when I had woken the night before, and he had held me, had carried me, and had, though in a strange way, comforted me. Sliding from the bed, I saw that I was still wearing only underwear and Damon's shirt. When I turned to walk toward him, Damon watched cautiously, as though he thought I would suddenly pull something from his shirt and throw it at him. Hm, not a bad idea; seduce him, and then attack him. Like the tales of Siren's.

Shaking that thought aside, I stepped up toward the desk, while Damon set his drink down, preparing for a chase or a dodge. But I know that I thoroughly shocked the black haired vampire as I stepped up to him, then climbed up onto the chair so that my legs were straddling his thighs and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled against his bare shoulder, feeling the smoothness of his skin beneath my hands. "I shouldn't have attacked you like I did, I was angry and confused, and in denial," I said carefully, wondering exactly why I was the one apologizing. But I knew that it wasn't him making me, because he was tense in confusion and I was now wearing an ankle bracelet that prevented him from using his compulsion on me. Something to do with 'vervain', Stefan had said.

Damon gently pushed against my stomach, causing me to pull away from him. But I knew that he wasn't trying to push me off of him, otherwise I would already be on the floor at this moment. No, he was up to something else. I looked into his eyes, glad not to see the red that surrounded his iris when he was about to feed. As I thought of him feeding, I began to wonder if what I remembered of what happened that night was actually what happened, because I was still under some of his influence. Leaning down to gently kiss the corner of his mouth as I had the night before, I pulled away just slightly, so that our noses still brushed.

"Bite me," I whispered, watched as his blue eyes grew in size. The next moment I was sitting on the chair, my legs over one arm with my back against the other, looking at the window. I blinked in momentary shock, before I scurried off the chair and looked around to find Damon. He was standing on the opposite side of the room, his back toward me. His hands were up against the wall, supporting himself as he breathed heavily. "Damon?"

"Why?" He asked, his voice hoarse as he spoke. "Why the _hell_ do you want me to bite you?" His knuckles were beginning to turn white and I was pretty sure he was going to leave dents or holes in the wall if he didn't ease some of the pressure that he was placing on it. I stepped toward him quickly, my bare feet tapping on the floor as I walked. When I was behind him, he was gone again, pissing me off slightly. Looking around, he was by the door this time, leaning against the frame. His head was slightly bowed, causing his hair to fall a bit over his eyes, which seemed dark as he looked at me through his lashes.

Instead of walking up to him again and wasting my time, I moved up to the bed, which was only a few feet from the door, and climbed up onto it and crawled to the middle, before sitting down Indian style. Pushing the left side of the shirt down, I exposed the same side of my neck that he had bitten before. After the bite was revealed, I just placed my hands on my legs and waited. Damon's breathing was beginning to pick up, his jaw taut again as he looked at me with dark eyes.

"Bite me," I said again, slowly, calmly.

Damon strode up to the bed in three strides, placing a knee on the bed and lifting himself up and over top of me all in once great movement. I allowed myself to fall back against the sheets as he looked down toward me, his hands on either side of my torso as he straddled my thighs. My legs were no longer crossed, since that would complicate things, and I lay flat out, waiting.

"This isn't going to be some fun new thing to try, Riley. I'll hurt you," He warned, his teeth still looking like a normal humans.

"I am not afraid," I said as I leaned up on my elbows, placing another kiss to his lips, "Of you," I added once more. Damon let out a type of hissing growl before his hands grabbed my arms roughly and I was pressed down into the sheets once more, looking up into red and blue eyes, his teeth bared to me in a type of snarl. He was beginning to breathe heavily through his teeth, the threatening canines lengthened, his hands tightening and loosening on my arms. I closed my eyes and tilted my head slightly to the side; he snapped.

Damon's teeth dug roughly into my shoulder, drawing a strangled moan of pain as I arched my back at the feeling, pressing up against him. Damon breathed heavily through his nose as he fed, his teeth digging deeper as he drank more and more. I continued to gasp, my breath seeming to come in heavy pants suddenly. Damon released my arms, moving to wrap his arms around my shoulders, pulling me up closer and keeping me in place. Now that my arms were free, I needed something to do with them; I felt that I needed to move them somehow.

Reaching up, I wrapped my own arms around Damon's torso and dug my nails into his skin again, just as I had when he first held me. Damon's teeth went slack as he released the flesh of my shoulder, before his tongue began to lap over the blood that I was sure was on my shoulder. I began to try and calm my frantically beating heart, my shoulder beginning to throb slightly from the bite. Damn, he wasn't kidding when he said that he was going to hurt me.

"Better?" I asked quietly, breathy. Damon continued to lap at the blood still coming freely from the wound. I began to wonder how much more I was going to have to lose before my mind started to get foggy like it had the first night. My arms were beginning to feel heavy and it was too much to keep my head up. I let my arms fall back to my sides, leaving red lines along Damon's back as the nails slid down the skin roughly. Damon groaned at the feel, finally stopping his feeding as he closed his eyes from the sensation.

"Your turn."

I stared in shock at his words, turned my head to look into his eyes, while he leaned his chin on my shoulder, his eyes looking up at mine. I couldn't say a word. My turn? To what? I wasn't going to drink anyone's blood, thank you. I would surely be a vegetarian after that kind of an experience. He said that I couldn't be turned by his bite, so it was a bit too confusing of as to what was going on.

"Come again?" I asked, before a sly smirk appeared on his blood stained lips.

"Don't mind if I do," He replied cockily, and I realized my mistake and lifted one tired arm to smack his side, though it was barely hard enough to do anything, it wouldn't even have hurt a human with the lack of strength I was experiencing. Damon pulled himself off of me suddenly, and I hated myself for the longing feeling that fell into place. He moved to sit up against the headboard, and I rolled onto my side so that I was facing him, wondering what he was up to. I watched as he lifted a hand to his neck, just below the jaw.

"What are you doing?" I asked, then watched as he drug one of his nails across the skin, a line of red appearing and crimson liquid spilling out. My eyes widened as I watched the beads of blood get bigger and begin to drip down his neck. Damon took one of my hands and pulled me quickly and fluently up his body, situating me on his lap as he caged me against his chest with his arms.

"Drink," He ordered, looking down at me as he kept the long cut exposed. More from curiosity than anything else, I lifted myself slightly higher and placed my mouth hesitantly over the wound, feeling the liquid wet my lips, before it flowed past and into me mouth. I groaned at the odd taste, not quite like human blood, with a different kick to it. I placed one of my hands on the side of his neck, pulling myself closer to the wound as I began to suck gently, getting more of his blood into my mouth.

I could feel the vibration of a sigh through Damon's throat, my lips leaving his neck in time for my tongue to dart out and lick over the wound and any blood that had slipped away. Damon seemed to have thought this plan through, and I felt as he returned to my own shoulder, biting down on the fresh wound to open it again, getting more blood to spill. I found it both strange and oddly arousing that we were feeding from one another, and I wasn't even a vampire. The pain wasn't as great this time, so it was easy to tell that he hadn't opened the entire wound, only enough to take the addiction of the crimson liquid.

My dull, human teeth bit down again his own neck; causing a small amount of blood to flow out into my awaiting lips. My hand lifted from his neck up to his dark hair, running through the silky strands as I licked over the cut again, feeling as his own tongue lapped at the blood on my shoulder, occasionally pulling away so that he could press his nose against my neck and inhale deeply, smelling the blood and my own natural scent.

I soon found myself getting that same, weak, foggy feeling that I had the first time that Damon had bitten me. With one of my hands still in his hair, my other wrapped around his waist as I pulled myself closer to him in the last moment and bit down especially hard on his neck, creating a whole new wound and leaving two crescent jaw shapes, just as he had left on me, before I pulled away from him again, the blood from my inflicted wound remaining on my lips. Damon had let out a loud, throaty groan as I had bitten into his neck, and I was sure that Stefan had heard, which caused me to wonder if Elena and Bonnie had already gone home. Oh well, I'm too tired to care anyway.

Damon pulled away from me then, and I barely registered as I was tucked back into the black sheets of the bed, a solid body moving in behind mine. I leaned against Damon heavily, feeling his arm snake around my stomach, and this time, it didn't feel so weird that there was someone lying beside me, I embraced the sensation, and embraced the darkness.

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**OMG! It took forever to get this out, wow. Kind of got my hopes down a bit when it literally took over a month for someone to send the 11th review (once more thank you to _Hot for Dean Winchester_ for sending that last Review in) and I hope that the next 12 reviews come in faster. Though probably not with school coming up again soon. Next week for me...damn.**

**Anyway! Hope you like the chapter, and it may seem a bit perverted and she may be acting really gross with drinking Damon's blood, but I though that it was kind of fitting.**


	13. They Will Frighten You

**They Will Frighten You**

I rolled over lazily in the smooth sheets that surrounded me, but was shocked when I rolled onto a solid surface. I knew that I often fell asleep on my textbooks, but last time I checked they weren't this thick; or breathed, for that matter. Turning my head slightly to the side, I winced at the jolt of pain the shot through the muscles as I moved my shoulder. Craning my neck, I looked down at the familiar bite shape.

"Hope you aren't being all regretful," I jumped at the voice, moving to roll away when a strong arm came around my waist and held me against a solid form. "Because; I really can't deal with an overly moody woman at the moment."

"Damon," I mumbled, looking back over my shoulder. His head was covered in a black mess as he looked at me with a sly smirk adorning his face. He tightened his arm around my waist and his head ducked down to the bite that he had left on my shoulder, that I had just been marvelling a moment before. I held back a wince at my insane behaviour at letting him bite me. _Asking_ him to bite me. "Please, don't start with all of this so soon after waking up." I mumbled, rolling away again to face the opposite direction, but his arm continued to restrict my movement.

Damon hummed quietly as he pulled me up against him more closely, his nose brushed along the back of my neck. I tried to ignore the sudden intimacy, but knew that there was no way to keep it from my mind, to keep it from happening. I had dug my own grave after the act that I had committed last night when I _ordered_ Damon to bite me, then went back and bit him as well.

"Damon," I began, trying not to think much on the hand that was stroking up and down my stomach, which was now exposed when the shirt that I wore lifted through the night. "I'm not a play toy." I finished, feeling his hand still. I looked into the darkness of the room, toward where I remembered the door to be. He didn't answer, and I knew that he wouldn't. I pulled myself more easily from his arms this time, sliding off the side of the bed as the silk sheets caressed the bare skin exposed.

Picking up the bag of clothing that Elena had brought, I slipped into the bathroom before Damon had even gotten out of the bed. I dumped the clothes from the bag onto the counter in the large bathroom, the mirror across from me. I looked at my reflection briefly, before I pulled a pair of white black cargo pants and a grey T-shirt that covered my new bite. Letting out a calming breath, I turned toward the shower, feeling the prickling of dried blood on my shoulder and some in my hair. Turning on the water, I made sure that it was at an okay temperature, before I stripped down out of the black dress shirt Damon had me dressed in.

Stepping from the room a good twenty minutes later, I stopped outside the bathroom door to make sure that I wasn't going to be grabbed by Damon when I walked further into the room. As far as I could see, though, he wasn't there. Slipping through the room with my bag in my arms, my hair dripped on the back of my neck as the bare feet tapped against the hardwood floor. Reaching the door, I quickly moved down the stairs, making sure that I didn't make too much noise.

"Need a ride home?"

I jumped down the last step, nearly losing my footing when I heard his voice from right behind me on the stairway. I stood still for a moment, leaning forward as I gasped for breath, my heart pounding in my ears. I expected a chuckle from behind me, an arm around my waist that would carry me back to the dark room while a voice in my ear whispered that I wasn't going to be leaving. Nothing.

"Are you actually offering?" I asked as I looked over my shoulder, seeing Damon leaning against the banister, his fingers laced together before his stomach while one elbow was placed on the banister. He had a blank face, clearly none too pleased at my horrid attempt at sneaking out of the house. I adjusted the hold I had on my bag, flicking my bangs away from my face.

"Well, I can't exactly hold you here much longer, we don't have much food and Stefan wouldn't approve of me feeding you my diet," He taunted, knowing that his brother must have been able to hear. I wounded what he would think if he knew that I had let Damon force me to drink his blood, without the power of compulsion over me.

"As long as I don't have to walk, and reach my house without any problems," I replied, watching the amusement dim in his eyes. "I would love a ride home." Damon stepped down the rest of the stairs, took one look at my bare feet, and I was draped over his shoulder once again. "Damon! I said without problems!" I yelled, holding my bag in one hand as I smacked him in the back with my other elbow.

"Indeed, you did, but you never said problems for whom," His voice teased as he strode toward the front door. I let out a frustrated growl, hitting him in the back again. Damon just chuckled as he continued out the door, letting it close behind him, those careful not to hit me with it, I was sure.

"Damon, I can walk, please just put me down?" I asked as I leaned on my elbow that was resting on his lower back. Damon didn't answer and just continued on toward the garage, where his car was parked, probably. I gave up and just sat there, waiting for us to reach the car. Once we were at the door, Damon still didn't put me down as he pulled the door up, making sure that my legs weren't caught by the raising door.

I was soon plunked in the car with Damon sitting to my left, pulling out of the driveway toward my house. I leaned back, one leg crossed over the other while I hugged my chest with my arms. I felt slightly pained that when I had told Damon that I wasn't going to be a toy, he didn't deny that that was what he was doing with me. I turned slightly toward the window, giving Damon the cold shoulder. I could feel a tingling on my skin, telling me that he was looking at me. But I just ignored it.

If he wanted to know what was wrong with me, then he would just have to be the man he tries to act and ask. The trees continued to roll by as I watched them, longing to take a drive on my bike. I needed something to take my mind off of the man to my left, to raise my spirits. I felt myself being sucked back into the seat suddenly as the trees all whipped past at dangerously fast speeds. I bolted up in the seat, my head snapping over to look at Damon.

He was staring at the road as though he wished it would burn in hell, one hand clenching the wheel tightly, and his knuckles whitening, while his other hand hung from where his elbow was draped over the window, which was partially opened. He looked over to me, causing me to jolt when the car swerved slightly from the movement.

"Look back to the road," I yelled, moving to push his face back to the forward position, but his free hand darted out to grab my wrist, before I was pulled roughly against his side, while he pressed harder on the gas, his eyes still on my face. "Damon!" I screamed, watching as the car began to move onto the wrong side of the road. I reached out with my other hand to try and fix the steering, but Damon was holding it too tightly, keeping it in place. My heart began to pound in my chest as I screamed; ducking my head down when neared the edge of the road, and the large trees.

I shot forward as the car was set to a dead stop, skidding along the road as the tired attempted to stop quickly. I screamed, a strong arm keeping my in place before I smashed my head against the front dashboard. Even when I was sure that the car had stopped moving I stayed frozen, my whole body shaking as the adrenaline continued to pound through my veins. I drew in a shaky breath before I pulled away from Damon quickly, his arm not holding me back and threw myself against the passenger door, pulling open the lock and throwing myself out.

I stumbled on the road as my bare feet pricked at a few rocks that law on the concrete, before I began to run, taking off as fast as I could away from the car. I didn't look back to see if Damon had stepped from the car, or was even watching as I ran. He was insane, he was trying to kill me, he was a monster. The anklet rubbed against my heel as I thought about all the things that he had made me think before I had obtained it.

Tears began to blur and sting my eyes, and I could feel the balls of my feet burning and starting to become raw from running on the pavement. As soon as I had began to run, I was pulled to a stop. A scream of bloody murder tore though my body as I thrashed within the arms that held inhumane strength. I had come to terms with this. Giving up on my attempt of escape the nightmare behind me, I went limp as the same tears that had threatened began to drip down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Riley, please don't fear me" Damon's voice drifted through my senses, causing me to hold back a sob that was caught between relief and desperation. My legs left the ground and I felt myself being carried back toward the car, my heart thundering in my chest, my stomach sinking as I was carried on toward the death trap that Damon controlled. But why would he do such a thing, and then apologize for something that I didn't quite know what he was apologizing for? A small groan bubbled up from my chest, through my throat as my head fell back over Damon's arm the world beginning to fog up and fade away.

"Riley?"

A soft voice called beside my ear to my left, my hand shooting out to try and push them away as I turned my head away, hiding my ear from them. But the voice persisted, and a hand joined it as my shoulder was shaken and my name reached my hearing more loudly.

"What?" I groaned, but refused to open my eyes. Sleep, I just want sleep. My head was killing me and it felt like my cheeks were stiff from something sticking to them and drying them out.

"Riley, have you been crying?" My eyes shot open as I moved to throw the covers off, seeing Elena and Bonnie step away from the bed as I stumbled away from the bed and off toward the bathroom, that had the door open just slightly. Sliding inside, I slipped my hand over the wall until it brushed over the light switch and the lights all flashed on within the next moment, hurting my eyes. I did my best to keep my eyes open, while I looked into the mirror to see what horror would meet my eyes.

"Ugh," I groaned, leaning forward to look at the dry skin over my cheeks and the red rims around my eyes. "I looked like I just came back from the dead!" I cried, while Elena's head popped into the room from around the doorway, looking at my face through the reflection.

"What happened when Damon brought you home? Stefan said that you two were having another screaming match on your way out the door after he offered to take you home, but that was all he could tell us," Bonnie said as she stepped in and walked around to my other side, while taking a cloth from the rack and running it under some water.

"He..." I mumbled, thinking back. He had tried to kill us, kill me, and then he said that he was sorry. "He's so confusing," I said as Bonnie began to run the wet end of the cloth along my cheek while I just stood still in shock. "He was speeding, the car was moving to the wrong side of the road," I explained, both girls listening intently. "He stopped the car so fast, the tires were so loud."

"What did you do?"

"I ran, I tried to, at least," I answered, turning my face away from the mirror, closing my eyes. I could feel Bonnie's fingers slide under my chin so that he could continue to help clean my face. "He caught me and carried me back to the car. I must have passed out, I was so dizzy and weak so suddenly." For some reason, I felt that I had to keep Damon's apology between the two of us.

"Do you want us to stay here with you, today?" Elena asked carefully, her arm wrapping around my shoulders as she let me lean against her side. I nodded my head numbly, while Bonnie joined Elena on my other side and both girls guided me out from the bathroom and back into the bedroom.

"We do need to go over some things, Riley," Bonnie said as we all sat down on my bed once more, leaning against the headboard.

"What's up?"

"When did you invite Damon into your house? If he was the one to put you into your bed then you had to have let him in before," Elena said from my right, "Once a vampire is invited in once, they will be able to come and go as they please."

"It was the night before I was kidnapped by that other vampire," I started, "I was studying and he knocked on the front door. He used his compulsion to tell me to invite him in. That was the first night that he bit me, too." Both girls went quiet after I had spoken, and I was beginning to wonder why they were asking all of this. It was in the past, it wasn't even that important that the moment.

"Do you think that he would hurt you, Riley?"

So that's where all of this was heading. Now that he can get into my home, should I be afraid?

"No," I answered truthfully, and could tell that both girls were shocked that I had been able to answer it just like that. It was the truth, though. Even though he scared the shit out of me when he had pulled the stunt in the car, he had strangely apologized afterward; he had told me not to fear him. I was going to figure Damon out, whether it was the last thing I did or not. I would figure out the puzzle that was Damon Salvatore.

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**Sorry that it took so long for this chapter to come out after I had gotten all the 12 reviews that I needed, but I just got my computer back after it had been fixed (viruses, ugh) about 20 minutes ago. So be glad, I'm thinking of all of you! Here's chapter 13, thirteen reviews and you get an update. Hope you like it!**


	14. They Won't Face You

**They Won't Face You**

"Thanks you guys, for staying," I whispered as I returned the hug that Elena pulled me into right in front of my front door. As soon as Elena stepped back, I was attacked by Bonnie this time. Her arms tightened around my neck just slightly a moment before she let go.

"It was no trouble, I don't think Caroline will be too angry that we cancelled her dress shopping day," Bonnie smirked, while Elena winced and I grinned in slight mock.

"Don't remind me," Elena mumbled, through there was a small smile on her lips. "So you'll be at school tomorrow?" She asked as she turned back to me, pulling her purse up onto her shoulder. I nodded along to her, leaning against the doorframe.

"If I miss anymore school I'm not going to graduate," I teased, getting a shove from Bonnie. "So I'll see you both tomorrow?" I asked, getting two nods before my two closest friends left through the front door, waving back to me as they headed for Elena's car.

"Bye, Riley! Get some sleep!" Bonnie called right before they pulled away from the curb and disappeared out of sight. I let out a soft sigh as I continued to lean against the doorframe, feeling the cool air as it came in through the front door. Moving aside, I closed the door and locked it, keeping the front lights on out of instinctive fear.

Heading down the short hallway, I sped up the stairs quickly, locking my bedroom room, making sure that the window was also locked, before I finally locked myself in the bathroom, a small part of me glad that there was no window in the smaller space. Not wanting to chance looking in the mirror, I moved over toward the shower and started up the water, turning the heat up a bit more than usual. It was getting further toward Summer, but I felt like there was a chill in the air.

Stripping down from the clothes that I had still been wearing yesterday when Damon had so violently scared the shit out of me, I carefully stepped under the hot water of the shower. Leaning against my palms in the shower, I let out a sigh as my hair became heavy and wet, the water tickling as it flowed down my skin. Pushing away from the wall I made a slow job of washing my hair and body, gently avoiding the still sore spots on my body. My feet were throbbing from running on the road and the bite Damon had administered was stinging from the soap.

After I had been washing for a good thirty minutes, much longer than I had done before, I stepped from the shower and moved over to the towel rack, quickly pulling the fluffy white cloth around my waist to stop the goose bumps from erupting over my skin. Taking a smaller towel, I quickly ran it around through my hair to stop the worst of the dripping, before I pulled it up into a bun to keep it away from my clothing. Looking around my bathroom in disappointment, I couldn't help but long for the largeness of Damon's bathroom.

Opening the door to the bathroom, I trudged over to my closet tiredly, feeling everything beginning to catch up to me. A spaghetti strap top, underwear and loose grey sweat shorts was all that I needed before I closed the door once again. Going over my skin with the towel once more time, I made sure that I was as dry as I was going to get before tossing it into the hamper and pulling on my bedtime clothes. After I was dressed, I stood beside my bed for a moment, not sure what I was doing.

I wanted Damon. I hated myself more than ever before, but I really wanted Damon. Having him sleep at my side was something that I had become accustomed to and longed to have. It was almost like there was some kind of safety that I was missing now that Damon wasn't there. Letting out an annoyed groan, I fell onto my bed, hitting the light off at my side. Turning onto my side with my knees drawn up toward my chest, I closed and pulled the covers up over my chest as I closed my eyes as I tried to fall asleep, my thoughts still poking my conscious to try and get me to turn them around in my mind more. After a while, my thoughts were quieted by the darkness of my sleep.

"_Riley," A soft hand stroked my forearm, up toward my shoulder. Cold from around the knuckles proved that they were wearing a ring, a fairly large one. "Don't fear me, Riley."_

"_Damon?"_

"_Don't fear me."_

I leaned back against the seat of my desk as I read over the notes that I had borrowed from a friend in some of my classes. Not as close as Bonnie and Elena, but I didn't have them in every class so I had to grin and bare it. Thankfully, most projects were assigned while I was away, due very soon, but at least I didn't miss any new assigned work.

"Thanks for the help, Shelby," I smiled at the cheerful burnet, handing her the papers that she had given to me at the beginning of class. She smiled back, nodding her head as a silent 'you're welcome' before turned back to her own work. I shifted in my seat once more, sitting up straight so that I could copy down the due date of the project and the subject that I had been assigned.

"Hey Riley, where've you been anyway?" Jessica asked as she leaned beside my desk. Jessica was a preppy blond that knew when to shut her mouth and do her work, not like most that just acted before thinking. That's what made it easy to hang around her.

"Sick, caught some kind of late flu bug, terrible," I shuddered in fake memory, while she gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm good now, thank god."

"Glad to hear it, I hate the flu most of all. Worst thing you can get, but I'm glad that you're feeling better!" She patted my arm before shuffling away to go and gossip with some of her friends. I looking around my music class, wishing I could just go and steal one of the guitars from up front. It had been sometime since I hadn't gotten the chance to get in a good practice with everything that had been going on at the time.

The bell that signalled the end of another day got a sigh of relief from me as I pulled my books and everything together, dumping them in my bag. Elena and Caroline had let me do my work during lunch, but still stuck with me so that I wasn't alone. I wasn't sure whether to be glad that they had done so, or feel offended that they thought me so childish.

"Don't forget to work on your projects everyone! I won't accept any late work!" Mr. Cherish called over everyone in the room, his booming voice catching some people off guard. He was a large man, but very friendly, and had the deep voice that shocked a lot of people at the sound from such a pleasant man. Darting out of the room with other people surrounding me, I made my way toward my locker so that I could get my helmet and jacket.

I had to stop by at the store so that I could get a new phone, since I was on a plan that allowed me to get a new one if my last was destroyed. Thanks mom for reading the fine print. Slipping in through a crowd of people that were all laughing and chattering about around my locker, getting glares from a few girls around me. Opening my lock, I pulled out the rest of my homework and slipped it into my bag, before I snatched my helmet and jacket. I just wanted to get away from the sneering voices behind me. Slamming my locker and snapping the lock shut, I remained there as I heard the voices in the hall close by all begin to quiet. I looked over my shoulder to one of the girls that had glared at me, seeing her staring at me again. Turning so face her in a slower pace, I simply moved past her after a moment.

Stepped through the people seemed like a far away thought, my mind just seemed to hang over getting home, but I still had places to go and I promised Elena I would come over to her house tonight so that I would help her pick out a dress for the Dance that was coming up. It was a masquerade, as there seemed to be many parties in the area with that theme.

"No!"

"You have to!"

"You tricked me!"

Bonnie sat to the side as Elena and I took turns opening and closing her bedroom door, one trying to get out the other trying to prevent them. I opened the door again, before Elena pressed her back against it so that it slammed closed.

"Elena!"

"Come on, Riley, you've been acting all dead ever since you got back from being with Damon, after what he did with you on the way home," Elena said as she carefully moved my hand away from the doorknob, pulling me away while I grudgingly let her. "With this party, we can dress you up so that no one will recognize you and you can do whatever you want!"

"I don't know, Elena, what if something goes wrong again?"

"Stop thinking like that, Riley," Bonnie interjected, joining me and Elena on the edge of Elena's bed. "We're going to make you gorgeous, there'll be so many guys crowding around you that Damon won't even be able to see you, so he can't get to you."

"Plus, I've talked with Stefan and he said that Damon's been trying to avoid going out lately," Elena added. I knew that there was no way that I was going to be able to win this one, now way in hell could I beat them both at the same time. It was an uneven battle. "I think he's actually depressed about what happened, but who am I to say?"

"Fine!" I yelled as I threw my hands in the air, "Fine, I'll go out with you two." Bonnie and Elena cheered as they jumped up and high-fived over my head. I sighed as I fell back onto Elena's bed, listening to them celebrate.

"So, Crimson or Burgundy dress?"

_What did I just get myself into?_

_

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_**Hey! Hope that you all like this chapter! Can't wait to hear your feedback, it'll be awesome. I really need some good news, I've been having a bit of a crappy week...**

**Well, enjoy!**


	15. They Will Invade Your Every Thought

**They Will Invade Your Every Thought**

I hadn't seen Damon in days, hadn't even so much as heard his name. The others all seemed to be doing their best to avoid saying his name of bringing him into the conversations that we had in any way. But that didn't keep him off my mind, that didn't stop him from invading my mind while I was sleeping or even just my thoughts throughout the day. But now, the only thought that was on my mind was the fact that Elena was pulling the bodice of this dress so tight I was having trouble breathing.

"Stop," I squeaked, getting a small chuckle from Bonnie, who was pulling my hair in curlers. I had thought that having my hair in curls was going to look very bad because of the shortness of my hair, but it actually was beginning to look better than expected. I was banned from looking into the mirror anymore, so I was going to have to wait before I would see what I looked like.

"I think that's good," Elena gasped tiredly as she stepped away, surely worn from having to pull and pull on the threads for so long to get them as tight as she wished.

"You _think_?" I asked incredulously, placing a hand on my stomach in pain. It felt like all of my organs were being pressed into a tube as wide as a tennis ball. Elena shook her head in mirth as she moved away to retrieve the dress that had been picked out for me. Elena and Bonnie were both already dressed for the party, having a bit more simple attire, and already have been nearly finished with their own attire when I had arrived at Elena's. "I can't breathe," I gasped, leaning against Elena's bed.

"Oh hush, and stand straight!" Elena scolded as she stepped up to help me slip on the dress. It had many layers in the skirt, a low neck that showed off way too much breast, and sleeves that ended off at the elbow with very thin material that continued to flow down to the wrist that moved and breezed about easily. They whole dress was a mix of Burgundy and Crimson, with Burgundy being the top, thinner layer of material and Crimson as the under layer that was thicker and stood out more.

Elena assisted to pull the dress over my head, Bonnie backing off with the curler so that I didn't have the dress burnt to a crisp. As soon as the dress was on, Elena pulled up the small zipper that was on the side so that it tightened further. I groaned as the dress became all the more constricted. Bonnie and Elena had both assisted in the purchasing of the dress, and I felt slightly guilty that I didn't help with the expensive purchase.

"Ta-da!" Elena stepped away from me as Bonnie stood to the side with the curler in her hand, her other on her hip. She was wearing a calming blue gown that wasn't as long as mine and her hair was put into a fancy, but simple up-do. Elena was in a green dress, silky and shiny. It looked a lot like my own, but hers was thinner at the skirt and the flowing material on her sleeves didn't reach as long as mine. Her neck line was higher up as well.

"You look amazing Riley, and we found you the perfect mask!" Bonnie placed the iron carefully aside as she quickly went to the bag beside Elena's desk, pulling out three masks, green, blue and red. They were all strapless, a special glue was on them that stuck to only the skin, but left no residue afterward. "I'll finish your hair and then we'll put on our masks and we can make our way out for the Dance."

"Stefan was going to be the one to pick us up, he'll be here soon, too." I sat back down on the chair before Elena's mirror as Bonnie finished up with my hair, idly fiddling with the straps of my high heeled shoes. They were black with burgundy trim, also matching the dress. As soon as Bonnie was finished with my hair, we could all hear as Elena's aunt Jenna call up the stairs that Stefan was here. Bonnie and I laughed quietly at Elena's excited jump as she began to put her mask on faster. They were all simple colours, but were decorated with rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Mine reached down along the cheeks slightly and covered the entire forehead. The eyes were a fancy slanted cut-out, patterned with deep red lace and small fake rubies. The glue that helped keep it up was on the top of the forehead and just above the eyebrows as well as at the bottom of the mask at my cheek bones. The colour nearly made my brown eyes look red.

"Time for a party," Elena said as she took Bonnie's hand, who took mine, and we all stepped from Elena's room. Elena stepped down the stairs first, so that she could meet Stefan. Bonnie went next, not having a date, just like I didn't. I stepped down last, careful to lift the dress so that I didn't damage it or trip over it. The three stood at the bottom to wait, as well as Elena's aunt and brother, Jeremy.

"Whoa," Jeremy mumbled as he paused in the middle of brining a handful of chips to his mouth, causing my cheeks to heat up as I thought of how many were going to react like that. After I reached the bottom of the stairs I pulled on the dark burgundy shall that I had draped over one of the chairs in the living room.

"Jeremy," Elena warned gently, thinking that I couldn't hear what they were saying.

"I wasn't doing anything," Jeremy defended. I stepped back into the room, after slipping my new iPhone into the side of my bodice since I didn't have any pockets, sadly.

"Alright, are we heading out?" I asked, smiling to the other two.

"Wait! I need a photo!" Jenna called as she scurried from the room, while everyone else groaned. It was like she was acting like it was prom. "Alright, I want to get one of Elena and Stefan first," She turned on the flashy silver camera in her hand, waiting for Elena and Stefan to get ready for the picture. Stefan was dressed in a black tux, the coat with a tail, and a white undershirt and black bowtie. He was wearing a white mask that fit with his outfit and reminded me of the phantom of the opera.

"Alright, group photo." Bonnie ushered me over toward Elena and Bonnie, so that Stefan and I were standing on the outside with Elena and Bonnie on the inside, since he and I were the tallest. We all smiled as we looked to the camera, waiting for the flash. As soon as the photo was taken, we all looked ready to leave when she called us to a stop once more. What could she want now? No offence to her.

"Jeremy, let's get one with you in there as well," Jenna said as she motioned for him to get up. Jeremy just seemed frozen as she looked at him expectantly, once more stalling in his chip eating. After a moment of her persisting, he gave up and wiped off his hands on a place-mat at the table. He stepped up beside me, his height rivalling mine. I felt bad for him standing out so much against the flashy people so I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, getting small chuckle from him as I pulled him more into the photo. He was still pretty relieved when it was finished though as he quickly scurried away.

"Alright, we're off!" Elena announced happily as we all began to make out way toward the door, double checking that we had everything, like the other two girls had their clutches.

"Have fun!" Jeremy called back to us teasingly, getting a mocking glare from Elena before we all disappeared out the dark wood door.

The dance was packed with masked teenagers and large frilly dresses. I gaped at the sight of some of the things that girls were wearing. I don't know how they could turn a masquerade into a whore house, but they did it. Moving with the other girls, we made our way over toward a table so we could all put our shawls or coats on the chairs. The music that was playing through the room seemed to vibrate the floor, thousands of students all jumping and dancing to the beat.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you guys want anything?" Bonnie asked as she stood from her seat, fixing her skirts as soon as she was standing.

"Nope, I'm pulling Stefan off for a dance," Elena said, getting a complaining groan from her boyfriend as she pulled him to his feet. I gave him a look of pity as Elena waved off to us, before they disappeared into the swirls of people.

"Riley?"

"Sure, I'll have a drink, thank you," I smiled, getting one in return as she turned and made her way toward the drink table. I looked around at the different people with masks on, dancing and laughing as they twirled around on the floor with their dates. A group of guys made their way past the table, one of them taking hold of my arm along the way.

"Come on, babe, join the party!" He called as I was pulled into the flurry of people, my voice rising over the others only slightly to call that I didn't want to dance. The group of guys wouldn't let me pass though, they all encircled me, their black and grey masks suddenly growing a more menacing look to them. One of them from behind me came forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my back against him. My heart began to thrum violently in my chest.

"Oh, sweetie, just dance with me a little bit," he nearly yelled into my ear over the music. I grabbed at his arms to try and get him to release me waist.

"Let go of me," I growled out, tugging on his arms in a vain attempt to get myself out from his grasp. "I said, let go!" I yelled, shoving back with my elbows, but he only stumbled a moment before he righted again and it seemed that his grip tightened on me. He laughed giddily before he hummed in my ear, forcing my body to sway with his.

"Ah, I like 'em feisty-"

I felt an iron grip on my upper arm as I was pulled from the arms of the male in one moment, and soon found myself being whisked through the crowd in the next. I looked up and caught sight of the familiar mask, letting out a sigh of relief as Stefan pulled me back to the table at a pace that I could follow. Elena and Bonnie were back at the table, two drinks in front of Bonnie. She looked worried as she spoke with Elena.

"Found her," Stefan said as he released my arm. "Some guys got a bit carried away..."

"A bit?" I asked as I looked over to him with a perplexed look, "I would have preferred you killed them, the buggers." I mumbled the last bit to myself, though I knew full well that he could hear me, and fell back into my seat.

"Are you alright?" He asked carefully, hearing me sigh as I nodded. Bonnie pushed the drink that she had gotten for me in my direction, offering a smile.

"Thanks Bon," I said gratefully, taking the drink from her. I just sipping it at first when I realized that there was alcohol hidden inside, while Elena and Bonnie were talking about something that I was out of the loop for, Stefan standing behind Elena like a bodyguard. I couldn't help but notice that he was watching me as well, as though he was making sure that I wasn't pulled off again.

"I think we should get out and catch a dance together, before all of the good songs pass us by." Bonnie didn't leave room for any kind of protest as she pulled me and Elena away, while Elena grabbed Stefan and dragged him along as well. I laughed at Bonnie's hyper mood, blaming it on the spiked punch. A fast paced song came up over the speakers, nearly shaking the floors at the volume that they were playing it. I realized that the dress was far too thick to be dancing in, considering the amount of layers to my outfit, as I began to nearly overheat.

The different groups of people were hard to manoeuvre around and I soon felt Bonnie's grip slacken, and disappear. I was able to peer over people's head's pretty easily, especially with the heels that I was wearing, but because everyone was wearing masks, it was hard to spot them. I tried to find Elena's Emerald green mask, but there were at least three green female masks before me.

"Elena!" I called over the music, trying to spot her. "Bonnie! Stefan?" I was hoping that Stefan could hear me calling out his name, since he had the best hearing in the entire room, but I wasn't sure how badly the music effected his hearing. I looked around one last time before I headed through the swarms of people to try and get to the tables again. I didn't like this, not knowing who I was standing next to. I didn't want to think about who I could possibly be standing by without knowing. How could the teachers think that it was safe to have a masquerade ball when anyone could dress up and say they were a student?

Reaching the wall of the gym, I looked around at the laughing girls and flirting boys, feeling my chest tighten slightly in fright when a couple motioned over in my direction. I didn't know if I was the one that they were talking about, but I didn't want to take the chance. Pushing past a couple of girls, I moved quickly over to the gym doors that led into the hallway.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry, excuse me." I was to the point where I was nearly elbowing my way through the crowd, when everything suddenly seemed to slow. The music changed to a slow mix, couples beginning to group together. I looked back to see that there were a lot less people standing at the side lines, most with friends or lovers or spouses. I shook my head and began toward the door again, needing the cool air that the outside would bring. A hand caught my wrist, pulling me to a stop. Turning to face the guy, I tried to pry my hand free. "Sorry, but I was just-"

Looking up at the guy's face, I met with the unreal blue eyes again. A dark mask adorned his face, causing his bright eyes to almost pop, while it made it hard to tell where the mask ended and his dark hair started. He tugged on my wrist again, leading me toward the floor as his other hand slipped down to the small of my back. I couldn't pull my eyes away from his own, watching him closely as he watched me in return. He pulled my body flush up against his own, beginning to rock me in the movements of a slow dance.

"Damon, I-"

"Shh." His lips brushed my ear gently as he hushed me, whilst his arm tightened around my waist. I wanted to protest again, but I couldn't bring myself to pull from his embrace. I lifted my arms up to wrap around his neck, resting my head on his shoulder carefully, hesitantly. I could feel him begin to pull back moment later, and I heard my conscience scolding me. _What? You expected him to want to stay? He almost killed you._

"Riley," He said, only loud enough for me to hear, as he took my hands in his when they began to slide from his shoulders. I looked back into the blue eyes, wishing that I had that colour. I had always loved blue eyes; it was a weakness of mine. And it would probably always be. I was caught off guard when his lips lowered onto mine, causing me to step back, but his arm was still around my waist and prevented me from parting with him. Planting three quick kisses on my lips and he began to pull away again, probably noticing my lack of a reaction.

To hell with my conscience, I've never listened to it before, why start now?

Following after him as he pulled away, my lips brushed his in a forth quick kiss, before we both pulled the other to our person in a tight and intimate embrace, my arms locking around his neck as my hands buried in his flawless hair. His arms were so tight around my waist that I was left to stand on the tips of my toes to prevent him from lifting me right off the ground. And, my god, how rewarding it felt to ignore my conscience.

Damon pulled away, detangling my arms from his neck and fingers from his hair, before he pulled me along behind him out of the gym. People watched us go, snickering quietly as he tugged me along behind him. As soon as he stepped into the hallway of the school, he spun around to face me again. I could see his eyes look down along my dress, lingering at the exposed cleavage a little too long, before his eyes rose to meet mine again.

"Elena said that you weren't coming tonight," I whispered, suddenly feeling self-conscious and nervous. I hated when he did that to me, made me feel so vulnerable. Then he went and contradicted his own actions and made me feel strangely secure.

"Elena doesn't always know everything, Riley, as much as she tried to portray that she does." He pulled me up against him again, making my stomach tighten in anticipation as his lips lingered moments away from my own, lighting brushing against them every few seconds, teasingly. I mock growled, causing him to chuckle deeply as his lips met mine in a searing kiss that had my body tingling as my nerves all came to a high reaction to the kiss.

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**I really enjoyed writing this one and I hope that everyone enjoyed reading it as well! You all know the drill, 15 chapters until the next review!**


	16. They Will Show What's Hidden

**They Will Show What's Hidden**

I stepped up toward the familiar room that I had stayed in just a couple of days ago, my heels tapping the floor of the stairs. As I reached the dark, comforting room, I stepped up toward the bed, stopping as I remember the last moment that I had spent with Damon in this room, that I had bitten him as he bit me. Turning to face the door, I stood with my back to the bed, waiting. Not moments later, Damon stood in the doorway, no longer wearing his black mask, as though he appeared out of air.

Still holding his coat on my shoulders, I walked toward him slowly, my heels the only sound in the room that I could hear. But I knew that he could hear just about everything, my heart beat, my increased breathing. Stepping up until I was right before him, he was still clutching at the doorframe, and I knew that it was for the same reason that he had panicked when I told him to bite me. Gently peeling off the coat that he had draped of my shoulders, revealing the skin that the dress left exposed.

Damon's hands slowly let go of the door frame, my heart jumping as he did so. Draping his dress coat over the table near the door; I waited quietly, my hands shaking at my sides. Damon took the final step closer to me, his hands gently moving up to take a calm hold of my cheeks and jaw, his fingertips ghosting over my cheek bones, as I looked up in crisp blue. Damon's eyes were calmer than usual, calmer than I had last remembered.

I didn't want to speak, nor did I want him to speak. The best words moments are always the ones that cannot be put into words, so why can't the best moments be _made_ without words?

Tilting my head back with my chin up as my eyes drifted closed, feeling the smoothness of his skin against my own, I let myself relax against his hold for the first time in days. A softness passed over my lips that had my heart speeding up to the fastest that it had ever reached. I stood still as the smooth skin brushed over mine again, and again. His hands on my cheeks slowly slid back until they were sliding through the curls of my hair, smoothing along my skull. The lips that had covered my own disappeared, causing a sharp tug in my gut.

I opened my mouth to protest the retreat, wanting to call him back, but a long smooth finger placed over my lips as it silenced me from speaking. Opening my eyes once more, I looked up into Damon's face again, his blue eyes dancing with emotion that I had never seen from him before. His lips were pulled up into a small grin, probably pleased with the reaction that I had given him.

He wanted me silent; he wanted this to be expressed without words, with only emotion. So I would play his game, as long as he didn't cheat. Lifting myself to my full height, bringing my face closer to his own, but I remained parted from him, leaving the final step to him.

Damon never truly was one to disappoint.

His lips came down to meet mine just as I had been hoping, a small moan vibrating my throat before I really had a chance to catch it. I knew that this moment was rare, the lightness of his touches, his calm mood as he treated me like a doll, which in truth was a relief after he had thrown me around and scared the crap out of me many times. The times that I had dreamed that Damon would just once treat me with care, and now I can truly have that dream.

The sudden looseness of my dress caused me to stiffen slightly, as I felt Damon's lips tighten into a smirk at my reaction. The dress became loose on my shoulder I knew that he had unclasped the restraints of the fabric to get the dress off. As the smooth material caressed my skin on its way down my body, I couldn't help but praise the lord for giving me the thought of wearing short shorts under the dress and not just underwear. While the dress still covered my feet I expertly slipped the straps off my ankles so that I could slide from the heels. Looking up at Damon, I saw that same smirk on his face, but a bit smaller and more discrete.

Lifting a hand up to his lips, I placed a finger gently upon them, telling him to be quiet, before I began to pull the bow tie that he was wearing loose. Damon stood still and quiet as I did so, calmly watching my face as I pulled the black tie away and tossed it over onto the nightstand, before returning to my work as I began to unbutton his shirt. When I reached the last bottom, that was still tucked into his pants, I gave him a small smirk as I pulled the material up, revealing his abs in the process, before I continued to 'unwrap' him. His lips claimed mine gently as my smirk melted away.

As soon as I pulled away from our kiss, sliding his shirt away from his shoulders to reveal the beautiful pale skin beneath, I looked up into striking blue eyes once more. Azure, as I had decided that was the colour that best suited his eyes. Letting a small smile slide into place, I slipped my feet from my heels entirely and back stepped up onto the bed, bringing myself to my knees so that I was the same height as him as the bodice slipped off when there was nothing left to hold it up, leaving me in the thin tube top I wore underneath.

Gently running my hands up through Damon's hair, I leaned forward to place a kiss to the corner of his mouth, which seemed to have become a thing for us. As I leaned away again, I used my hands that were now at the back of his head to pull him forward toward me. Damon didn't fight, even though I knew that he would have no trouble in doing so, and allowed himself to be pulled down against me as I fell back onto the bed.

Damon's hands rose up to my face as he leaned on his elbows to keep himself up, and I would feel as he gently began to peel the mask from my face, careful of the glue. As soon as the red decoration was off, his hands came back to gently rest along my face; his fingers so long that the heel of his palm was able to curl beneath my jaw and his fingertips still touched the hairline above my forehead. The strength of his body stretched over mine, leaving me immobile. My eyes closed as I let his fingers play along my hair, over my eyelashes and eyelids, before drifting down along my nose to my lips, parting them lightly as he slid a smooth fingertip over the skin.

Without opening my eyes, I lifting my arms to begin running them up Damon's bare sides; feeling all the dips of his muscles along his sides and stomach. Damon's fingertips continued to caress along my face, jaw and neck as my own hands moved along his chest, over the V of his hips, and back around to his spine, feeling on the muscles there as well, the dips around the bone and muscles groupings.

Damon's fingers ghosted over my collar bone as my nails glided up from the base of his spine to the tips of his hair, both the sensations clouding my mind. I had dreamed of this, I have dreamed of the wonders and had nightmares of the outcomes, but those are my dreams, and this is reality. In reality, Damon truly was holding me; I truly was listening to his light breathing in my ear; my hands sliding over his body in wonderment.

Damon's lips moved along from where they had been beside my ear, his nose moving one of the curls that framed my face around. My heart sped up violently as I gripped at the base of his neck, my blunt nails leaving marks in his skin. A trail of Damon's kisses moved across my cheek down toward my lips, leaving me drunk from happiness when his lips finally met mine, all of my passion flowing forward into that one kiss, just encase it was our last.

I woke to the feel of something gliding over the skin of my hip, making what felt like a figure eight on the bone. Even breaths puffed against my shoulder, the curls of my hair itchy on my nose. The sheets that hung at my hips felt silky and smooth, lifting up behind me where a form was pressed up against my back. I knew exactly who it was and what they were doing and a smile touched my lips as I thought back to last night, to him.

"I see that smile," His teasing voice drifted through my hearing, and my smile only grew. Opening my eyes carefully, although somehow knowing that it wasn't going to be light in the room, which it wasn't because it seemed that I didn't sleep as much as I had thought; it was still night; that or very early morning.

"I never tried to hide it," I answered, looking up over my shoulder, seeing his outline in the small amount of light that was in the room, coming from under the door and through the window.

"Good, don't," He replied teasingly as he leaned forward to press a kiss to the corner of my lips, pulling away again as his hand continued its patterns on my skin. As he pulled away, I gave him a playful warning glare, which had a smirk breaking out on his lips, looking down at me.

"Get back here," I commanded mockingly, Damon's chuckle filled the room before his lips met mine again, sending heat to the surface of my skin, my stomach tightening in anticipation. Damon's body rolled over to cover my own, leaving me with the feeling of being covered and protected. I held onto him tightly, his hands coming down to either side of my shoulders to keep his weight from crushing me. It felt wonderfully peaceful and comforting, the closeness that I had with him.

But my heart always seemed to sink into my stomach whenever I thought about how Damon was a vampire, and immortal. He would always remain the same, he wouldn't age, only his mind would change as he learned more and adapted to the times. But I would grow old and die off before it even seemed like the blink of an eye to him. So while I had these chances, I would take them and be happy to spend the time that I had with him.

"Riley!" I only had time to tense in panic moments before Damon's bedroom door flew open, and Elena came rushing into the room like the hounds of hell were at her heels. I pulled from the kiss that Damon had engaged, turning my head to look away as I tried to hide myself when Stefan rushed up behind Elena, who had gone deadly silent.

"It was nice of you to announce your arrival, however it would have been much nicer if you waited to be invited in," Damon growled as he looked over to them, freezing them in shock at the sight of them. "Well, now would be a good time to leave!" All at once more feet were shuffling around and the door soon closed again, while my heart thrummed in embarrassment.

"Oh, God," I groaned as placed my hands over my face, hearing Damon chuckle from overtop of me. I could only image what Elena and Stefan were thinking now, though it was their fault for just throwing themselves into the room like that, "That's so bad."

"Oh, come on, it could very well have been much worse than that," Damon commented as he rolled off of me, to the side, though his arm remained draped over my stomach. "They could have seen what we had been doing last night-"

"Damon!"

"What?" He asked incredulously, which I just looked at him like he had gone mad. Rolling from the bed as his arm slid off my waist, I moved around the room, totally undeterred from Damon's prying eyes as I pulled on my underwear and short shorts, then my bra and tube-top, before I stole Damon's flashy white shirt from his suit last night and slipped from the room, seeing the bed now empty and knowing that Damon was getting dressed.

"Elena?" I called, not sure where she was and not entirely happy about how much skin was being revealed even with Damon's very long shirt, with the buttons all done up. Elena's voice called back from toward the stairs and I slowly made my way down the hall. She was leaning against the railing, Stefan a few feet away with his back against the wall. "Uhm," I mumbled as I looked between the both of them, tense and awkward, "What's up, Elena?"

"Your parents are home, they came by the house looking for you last night and I said that I wasn't sure where you were, but Stefan told me that Damon and you had left together," She explained, giving me a look. "What were you thinking Riley, after what he put you through?" I thought for a moment, knowing that she was right and I too was wondering why he had acted that way.

"I have my reasons, Elena, I'm sorry," I mumbled as I leaned against the wall of the hallway. I jumped slightly when a pair of arms came around my stomach, a head resting on my shoulder. With the glares that were coming in my direction, I didn't have to even think about whom the arms and head belonged to.

"When Stefan told me you came right from the party I knew that you wouldn't have much to wear, so I brought you some clothes," Elena sighed, picking up a bag that I didn't even notice there before. Holding it out to me, I nodding my thanks and went to reach for it, but I was pulled away as Damon took the bag from her instead.

"I'll give her a ride home," Damon said as he tugged at my waist, pulling me along from my place against the wall and back toward his bedroom. I could hear as Elena started speaking in hushed tones to Stefan, and knew that she was concerned about me. "So, when do I meet the 'rents?" Damon teased as he closed the door behind himself once we stood inside his room.

"If you're giving me a ride, today," I answered, pulling out the jeans that Elena had brought, as well as a grey t-shirt and black vest. I would have to wear my heels home, but that wouldn't be as bad as going in Damon's shirt. "And before that happens, I need to know the answer to the question that they will without a doubt ask, 'are you two dating?'"

I looked over my shoulder to see Damon looking at me intently as I pulled on the pants that Elena had given me while still wearing Damon's shirt over top. Looking away again so I could pull Damon's shirt off and replace it with Elena's tee and vest, I moved over to the pile of my clothes beside the bed, retrieving my heels. As I sat down on the edge of the bed to put them on, I saw Damon begin to walk over toward me and my heart thrummed. I stilled when he kneeled in front of me, looking up at me with a strange look of calmness on his face.

"Riley, may I introduce myself to your parents as your boyfriend?" He asked, keeping his face schooled, even though I knew deep down that he just wanted to look at me and smirk. I shook my head in amusement, before speaking.

"Answer me one thing first; _why did you try to kill me when you were driving me home the other day?"_

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**_I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to update this story, I've been working on another one and I just got a new Kitten at Christmas. It's kin of hard to write on the computer when there's a fluff ball with claws climbing my leg. Hope you all like the chapter, 16 reviews at least before the next update! _**


	17. They Will Trick All

**They Will Trick All**

"I wanted you to fear me."

"What?" I looked at Damon, my eyes widening in shock. He wanted me to fear him, and then proceeded to tell me _not_ to fear him? Damon remained kneeling before me, taking the heels from my hands as he took my hands in his own once they were free.

"I thought that if you feared me, the people that I have as enemies wouldn't come for you the way that Jackson did, because where one may come there are many more," Damon explained, his thumbs running over the back of my palms. "I didn't really _want_ you to be afraid of me, but I thought that if you were than you would be safe, but Stefan made me realize that people still know that I feel for you, and I can't protect you if you're always running from me." I just looked down at him, thinking everything through. He was trying to save me, by scaring me senseless. In a way it seemed thoughtful of him, but it was also angering.

"Damon, why didn't you just tell me?" I asked carefully, "Did you think that I would just blame you and leave? Because I can't!" Sliding off the bed so that I was kneeling with him, though he was slightly higher than I when I was in this position, I made sure that he was looking me in the eye before I continued. "I feel safe when I'm with you, I feel like I never have before, and I know that this feeling will stay with me as long as I stay with you, as short as that may seem to be."

"What do you mean _'as short as that may seem'_?" Damon asked as he gripped my hands more tightly, but I knew that he was being cautious about his strength.

"Damon, you're immortal," I answered, seeing his jaw pull taut as his teeth clenched together. That was something that he must have been avoiding, with his reaction, be must have also been thinking it through when he decided that he still wanted me around.

"Come on, your parents are waiting."

"Riley _Madeline Rain_!"

I flinched at the use of my full name, seeing Damon raise an eyebrow from the corner of my eye. I hadn't even said that I was home, merely stepped into the front hallway, and my mother's voice called through the house like an alarm. I quickly pulled my heels off, not wanting to walk in them any longer. My mother flew down the stairs and was standing in front of me in moments.

"Where have you _been_?"

My mother was a petite woman, shorter than me, with light brown hair. Her hair was shorter than mine, kind of a boy cut while I kept a bob style. She stilled looked very young, though she was getting closer to her late forties now, while my dad was already fifty-one. She was wearing a business suit, what she almost always decided to wear, and her hair was pulled back in clips to look more professional.

"Mom, I want you so meet someone," I began, stepping out from in front of Damon and to his side, placing one hand on his arm and the other on his chest. "This is Damon Salvatore, Damon this is my mother, René Rain." I introduced, and watched as my mom's face seemed to pale and her left eyebrow twitch. Not a good sign.

"And Damon is..."

"I'm Riley's boyfriend," Damon introduced, speaking for the first time. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Rain." Damon said as he held out his hand. Mom continued to look at him crucially, but knew her manners and took his hand in her own, shaking it.

"Boyfriend?" She finally asked, looking over to me.

"It was while you were away mom, and you told me that you'd be really busy and to only call on an emergency, so I thought that it would be better to tell you when you and dad got back." Thank god I had remembered that she told me that. She seemed to buy it though, not knowing that I hadn't told her because I forgot all about her and dad thinking about me dating someone.

"Well, why don't you go say hello to your father, while I speak with Damon here?" I looked up to Damon, who gave the tiniest nod to say that he would be fine, before he bent forward just slightly and pressed a small kiss to my cheek. I knew that he was just trying to gain my mother's respect and avoided the lips just yet.

"I'll see you in a bit," He assured.

"Alright," I smiled, giving him a one armed hug as I lifted myself up to whisper in his ear. "_No compulsion,"_ I whispered harshly, though quietly, before I pulled away. Giving my mother a hug as well, I looked over my shoulder one more time, before I disappeared through the living room in search of my father. I found him in the kitchen, making a fresh batch of coffee.

"There she is!" He smiled as he came up to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. His familiar sent of strong cologne, the same that I had smelt since I was a child, wafted into my senses like a soothing caress. It was one of those things that when you smell, it's like it sparks all those familiar past memories of times with my parents, like birthdays and Christmas's.

"It's nice to have you home again, Dad," I replied as I wrapped my arms around his torso. My dad, Charlie Rain, was 6 feet 3 inches tall, where I got my height from, though still not as tall as him. I was only 5' 7. He had sandy blond hair that was beginning to pepper with grey. He had faint worry lines along his face, but not too prominent unless he expressed certain facial emotions. "How was court?"

"Oh, murder," He mumbled, shaking his head as he held me at arm's length. I let out a small laugh as I heard him, before he glanced over me. "You've gotten taller," He noted.

"You can tell just by looking?" I asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at him. "So, mom wasn't very happy about a piece of news that I just want to get out of the way with you, now," I said as I looked up at him. He nodded, giving me his undivided attention. "I have a boyfriend," I said gently, waiting for his reaction.

"That's my girl!" He said, pulling me up against him again. I let out a surprised laugh at his reaction. But I really shouldn't be surprised, 'cause he was always one to take even the most shocking news while looking on the bright side. "So, when do I meet him?"

"Now."

Mom turned the corner smiling, Damon trailing in behind her with a calm look on his face. Though he didn't show that smug look that I knew he was truly concealing. Damon stepped right past my mother, giving a smile to my father that I could see was fake through and through. But my parents were not as used to him and were not able to tell that he was just playing the part of who they would be expecting.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Rain, my name's Damon, Damon Salvatore," He introduced, holding out his hand. I wasn't surprised when my father moved right past his hand and pulled Damon into a hug; Damon however looked dumbstruck as he was pulled into the hug.

"Nice to meet you, young man," Dad pulled away, seeing Damon's perplexed look and let out a laugh. "How about you come over for dinner tonight, we can get to know you better?" I watched as Damon schooled his face to look calm once more, letting a small smile appear as he nodded.

"Well, actually I was going to ask if I could steal Riley away for the night; my brother has invited the both of us to have dinner with him and his own girlfriend, Elena." I didn't react the way that I had wanted to as Damon dodged the invitation, while he looked over to me with a secret stare.

"Oh, yes, you're Stefan's brother-" My mom cut off what she was saying and I knew that I was about to get an ear full, whether Damon was in her presence or not. "And quite a few years older, aren't you?" She looked over to Damon, who didn't look fazed by her words, his eyes still blank while his face held that fake small smile.

"I don't believe that there should ever be an age limit when it comes to a way that someone feels about another person," Damon skilfully said, looking over to me as he spoke. Even though I know he hadn't said that he loved me, the way that he phrased the words was shaking and caused my heart to speed up. I smiled at him once he had finished speaking, my mother looking between us.

"So why were you over at Damon's last night?" My father asked as he looked over to me, before he moved to retrieve a cup of coffee.

"There was a dance at the school last night and it was beginning to give me a headache," I answered before Damon even had a chance to open his mouth. "Damon offered to take me over to his place so that we didn't have to cut the night too short and I ended up falling asleep while we were sitting in front of their fireplace; it is very soothing," I explained, shocked that I had been able to come up with something so fast. I wasn't usually like that.

"Oh, so you just slept?" My mom asked critically.

"Mom!"

"What, it's a fair question," She mumbled, looking away. I gapped at her for a couple of moments before Damon's hand slipped beneath my chin and lifted my bottom jaw up, while he leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"Sorry to leave so soon, but I have to be getting home, now. I'll come by to pick you up; say, around 6:30?" Damon asked, causing me to turn my attention away from my mom for a moment. He had planned that, I just know he had.

"I'll see you then," I smiled, before taking his hand as I briefly glanced back at my parents, "I'll walk you to the door."

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I got about four reviews in a couple of hours, it was great because I got to update! I hope everyone loves the chapter. I've changed my profile pic for anyone that wants to see my Kitten :)

17 reviews until an update!


	18. They Won't Give Up

**They Won't Give Up**

"We'll talk more in the morning, alright?" I asked as I pulled myself up from the couch. Mom and dad had been talking my ear off about the time they had spent in New York and then proceeded to ambush me with questions about school, Elena and, most of all, Damon.

My mom moved to protest, raising her hand as though she was trying to stop me, "But wait-"

"It's late mom, I'm tired and I want to go to bed, we can talk more tomorrow, alright?" I asked, giving the both of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek, before I stepped out of the room and headed upstairs. Dinner with Damon and Elena and Stefan had been average, though it was kind of strange when two humans are hanging out with two vampires. And the vampires are actually eating real food, not blood. Though, Damon did have a glass of blood when we went to the boarding house.

He had waited in the car purposely so that he wouldn't have to have another run in with my parents, which I didn't mind at all. But I could tell that my mother wasn't happy as she looked out the window by the front door in a disapproving manner, while my father wished me a good time from the living room couch. Every time I looked at him, sitting on that couch, it gave me chills as I remembered the first time that Damon had bitten me.

Opening the bathroom door, I quickly closed it behind me and shed my clothes, turning on the shower and welcoming the heat of the water. It was getting warmer outside, sure, but it was still chilly when it got dark. Making sure that the shower was fast, wanting to get to sleep faster, I was out of the warmth and cleaned off within fifteen minutes. Using a towel to dry my hair, I opened the door, left without anything to wear, the cool air that ambushing me as soon as I opened the door.

"Hm, I can get used to this." The male voice caused me to gasp and move back in a rush, the towel dropping from my hand as I placed a hand over my heart, stepping back into the bathroom slightly. Damon lay on my bed, a lecherous smirk on his face as his eyes roamed up and down the figure that was exposed from the lack of clothing.

"You perv, how did you get in here?" I asked in anger in shock, feeling my heart continuing to thunder in my chest. I picked up the towel, wrapping it around myself and heading over toward my closet. As I opened the closet door I felt a pair of hands slowly pulling down the back of the towel, smooth lips kissing along my shoulder blades and spine.

"Hm, citrusy," he teased, taking in a deep breath of the sent that must have been coming off of my skin. I let out a small laugh when he hit a ticklish spot on my lower back, around the small dimples at the base of my spine.

"Back off, my parents are just downstairs," I mumbled, taking out a pair of undergarments and some old shorts and a tank to wear to bed.

"The doors locked, we just have to be quiet," Damon countered, taking the clothes from my hands and wrapping his arms around me in the same instant, the clothing dropping to the floor of my room as his palms pressed against my cloth covered thighs.

"Damon..." I started in a warning tone, looking over my shoulder at just the top of his black hair, his face remaining low at my shoulder as he bit and nibbled the skin. "Back off, or I'll drink Vervain like Stefan wants me to," I threatened, feeling Damon still as he pulled his head up, showing his narrowed blue eyes.

"That's just cruel," he said, letting me go so that I could finally get dressed for bed. After I was sure that I had my iPod hooked up, alarm set and all of my school work put away. Thank god tomorrow was Saturday, I don't think I could last having to wake up at 6 am for another couple of days. "Are you okay?" I looked back to see Damon stepping up to me, gently taking my face in his hands.

"Just need a bit of a break, that's all." Pulling back the covers, I gladly pulled myself into my bed and under the covers. Scooting into the center, I found my favourite place to lay my head and looked over to where Damon still stood. Reaching my arms out for him in a sign of invite, he gladly accepted and eased himself onto the bed, remaining on top of the covers. He was leaning against the headboard, letting me rest my head against his washboard abs.

"You've been working too hard again, huh?"

"I feel like I'm being pulled in four different directions at once. There's you, there's school, there's Caroline's never ending partying and then there's my parents, who want to know every little detail of every little happening since they've been gone." I groaned quietly, letting my head roll back into the crook of his elbow. "Shoot me now."

"Well, I can't shoot you, but I can make you feel a bit better-"

"I'm not having sex with you, Damon. Not while my parents are home," I cut him off, hearing him let out an indignant huff, before I had been pulled up suddenly, sitting on Damon's lap as the covers were abandoned. "What-"

"It's not about sex," Damon grumbled, before his hand moved to his throat, and I watched for the second time as he cut a small slice into his skin, the red liquid beginning to bead up around the wound quickly. Damon's other hand moved to the back of my head and carefully pulled me toward him, toward the blood. The liquid was hot as it touched my lips for the second time, caressing my tongue and tingling against my taste buds. Damon let out a drawn out sigh as his hand kept me against his throat, while his free arm wrapped around my shoulder and kept me pressed tightly to him. He only released me for a moment as he turned off the lamp at my bedside.

The warm blood caressed my tongue and lips, seeming to give me a very lightheaded feel as I leaned heavily against Damon. My right hand came up to place on the opposite side of his neck as I pulled myself up straighter, trying to get more blood from the cut. But before I could achieve such, Damon carefully pulled me away from the wound.

"No-" I started to protest, but Damon's lips came upon mine in a brief kiss that left me quiet.

"Go to sleep now, Riley."

"More," I whispered, but Damon's cut had already closed up and left nothing behind but a bloodstain. Damon laid me back down upon my pillows, probably hearing the racing of my heart. His hand came to rest on my breast, over top of the speeding pulse. I could hear as he drew in a deep breath, before he slid down the headboard so that my head was no longer resting on his chest but on my pillow once more. I let my eyes closed as I felt him gently kiss where his hand had previously been, sending a burning feeling through my body. Strong stone arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to the lips that lingered over my breast, feeling my pulse. A few moments later, I felt him shift so that his head rested on my chest like a pillow, his ear over my heart.

"Damon..." I mumbled quietly, wrapping my arms around his head gently as I curled up into myself, tucking my body into his as well in the process.

_The cool fingers caressed along my neck, my shoulder, down my arm. I could feel that same large ring as the cold metal touched my bare skin. I couldn't move, didn't want to move; refused to move. The hot breath that brushed my cheek was comforting, familiar. I wanted to reach out to them, pull them closer as sweet and unclear nothings were whispered in my ear._

"_I'll be the demon at your door," his voice whispered as his hand once more ran along my arm, the cold ring sending chills up my bones as his touch sent a jolt down my spine._

"_But what if I can't open the door?" It sounded like my voice, but I couldn't feel myself moving as I heard the words, couldn't tell if it was really me saying them._

"_I'll be back again the next night."_

I could feel a breeze flowing over me and it took me a moment to realize that it wasn't coming from the window. My ceiling fan, someone must have turned it on when I had fallen asleep. But I always lock my door now, ever since Damon-

_Oh god._

I bolted up in bed as my eyes flew open, burning from the dryness and light that assaulted them. I blinked a couple of times as I looked around the room quickly while doing so. There were no other people that I could see, and my door was closed and still locked as far as I could tell. I looked down to my pillow, looking for blood, but there wasn't so much as a smear.

Bastard. He's got me hooked on Vampire blood, that asshole. I internally growled as I pushed the blankets off of me, knowing that there was no chance I was going to be able to fall back asleep. It was Sunday, so thank god I didn't have to get up for school, but why the hell did I have to live through the endless questions about my life from my parents. They got my letters, it wasn't like I hadn't told them what was going on. Mostly.

"Morning, my little non-vampire, vampire." I looked back to see Damon sitting on the edge of my desk, two cups of coffee from one of the cafe's around town. I didn't even have time to feel awkward about the fact that he was in my room, or that I had fallen asleep with him in the way that I had, the cup he held out to me seemed so appealing right now.

"Don't call me that," I half pouted as I took the cup from him and took a small sniff of the liquid inside.

"Tea, I know you hate coffee." He grinned that 'Damon grin' before he took a drink of the coffee that he had in his hand.

"Thanks," I mumbled, before I suddenly felt an arm around my waist and looked back to see that Damon was now standing directly behind me, his cobalt blue eyes lingering on my gaze. His coffee sat abandoned on the desk as he lifted my face up and placed a gently kiss on the corner of my mouth, before pulling away.

"I better go, your moms on her way up to wake you." His hand lingered on the small of my back, where there was a small amount of exposed skin after my shirt had ridden up through the night. I gently took his wrist in my hand for one more moment, before a sharp rap on my door caused to me look back, feeling Damon's wrist pull away and his hand disappear. He was gone.

"Reily, are you up?"

"Yes mom, I'll be out after I shower."

"Alright, breakfast will be on the table."

I waited for her footsteps to fade away before I glanced back toward my open window just one more time, knowing that he was long gone, but still longing for him to come back. I took a sip of the tea that Damon had gotten me and smiled, feeling the warmth of the drink as it spread through my body. The fan still spun overhead, but it didn't seem to give off as chilling a breeze as it had before. Just a brush against my skin.

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**I know that a lot of people wanted to know how dinner went and all that and wanted to see Damon and Riley with other people around them, but I had already started to write this chapter before I got those reviews so it was too late. There will be some Riley and Damon with Elena and Stefan soon though, I promise :)**

**Some people were commenting on how OOC Damon was being and I would like to point out that for most of the chapter he was acting for Riley family. Yes, he was a bit OOC at the beginning of the chapter, but it was either put him out of character a bit or just fail miserably at that scene. And technically that was NOT OOC if everyone saw the episode when he _cries_ as he's talking to Elena. I'm amazed at how fast I got all of the reviews for the chapter. It's like my story became overly popular recently. This is actually my second most popular story with over 19, 000 hits. yay! :3**

**Anyway, you know the drill. 18 reviews before the next chapter!**


	19. They Will Change You

**They Will Change You**

The heat from the sun on my skin caused me to blink as I looked up briefly toward the large flaming ball in the sky, before I was forced to look away as it burned at my retinas. I pulled on the helmet for my bike, knowing that my mom was still inside fighting with my father about me even riding the bike and not even knowing that I was on said bike and ready to leave. Making sure that the helmet was on tight, I pulled down the tinted visor and tightened my backpack, before I started the engine. Kicking off, I made sure to have perfect timing and was peeling out of the driveway and onto the road in moments without the concern of traffic. Mom was going to freak on me when I got home, but I was going to the Salvatore's after school, so she'd have to wait.

It had been only a week since my parents had gotten home and I had mostly been getting rides to school from Elena, Elena and Stefan, Damon, or one of my parents. They had said that they all wanted to spend time with me, but I couldn't help but feel like I was being babysat. My parents had a much better excuse, because they would be leaving for California in a couple of days.

"We'll bring you back a whole bunch of souvenirs, honey," my mom had said as she had dad were looking over the file in the kitchen. "I'm going to take your measurements too, so I can get you some clothes there. I know you don't like dresses, but maybe you can wear one to the next family dinner?"

I had reluctantly let her take my measurements, standing still as I was wrapped with measuring tape and ordered to hold my arms out, stand straight, stop slouching. I felt like running away when she had said that maybe she should take some photos just encase. Fortunately, dad had been able to talk her out of it and let me go lock myself up in my room to work on school assignments for the next couple of hours.

"Reily!" I looked away from my locker to see Elena and Stefan motioning me over to them, standing in the entrance to the History room. I had been filled in on Alaric and his nightly ways, killing Damon and Stefan's kind.

It was Friday, thank god, and my parents would be leaving on Tuesday. Damon seemed thrilled—though he didn't actually show it—when he heard that and bluntly asked if I knew how comfortable my bed was for sex. I had thrown my alarm clock at his head while I was screaming that I will turn celibate if he didn't stop asking about sex. Good thing my parents weren't home at the time, huh?

I made my way over to the room that I was going to be meeting the others in, Damon coming a bit later once most of the students were gone. Elena was sitting on one of the desks as Stefan leaned on the one to her right, his arms folded across his chest.

"Good evening, Reily."

"Hey, Mr. Saltzman," I greeted as I dropped my helmet and jacket on the table closest to the door. I hated that I had to wear a leather jacket when it was getting as hot as it was outside, but it was better than having an accident and getting all my skin ripped off from the pavement.

"You don't have to call me that at times like this, Reily, just Alaric." I laughed slightly and nodded along, before I felt a hand place on my head and a pair of familiar smooth lips brush against my cheek.

"Or Ric, right?" Damon asked as he moved to sit on the desk on Elena's other side, bringing me along with him. "So, what's with the boy-scout meeting here?" Damon asked as he leaned against the desk on Elena's left, pulling me to lean against him. I'm not sure what brought on the spur of PDA but I wasn't complaining when there were times that it seemed Damon's heart did still beat.

"Rogue vampires, spotted a couple of days from here and gaining," Ric began, holding up a hand when Damon went to speak. I couldn't help but feel like I was still in History class, with a teacher in front of me, instead of a Vampire Hunter. "There's something else you should know, like who they are."

"Well?" Damon asked impatiently, his fingers tapping along my hipbone in boredom. I swatted at his hand and felt a growl as it vibrated his chest slightly.

"They're from the family that this 'Jackson' guy that had first taken Riley. This family really knows how to hold a grudge." I felt my heart begin to speed up in my chest as my throat went dry. I could remember it all clearly, the cell, the men—no, the vampire—as they all leered down at me as I was strapped to a table. I didn't realize that I had started shaking until I felt Damon's arms come around my body and lift me up, so that I was sitting on his lap as he sat on the desk he had previously been leaning on.

"When should they be here?" Stefan asked, his voice deepening with a serious note.

Oh, god, my parents. They might get caught in all of this, what happened if they got caught in all of this? I couldn't live with myself if I was the reason that they have an early death, or that they died at all. They were leaving early next week, but what if they were tracked down, or they didn't leave soon enough.

"About a week or more."

I let out a sigh of relief, confusing everyone but Damon, who already knew about their leaving. "They'll be gone," I mumbled into Damon's bicep as he clutched me tightly against him. I knew that they must have been looking at me in confusion, because Damon's chest vibrated as he spoke.

"Her parents."

I lay still on the couch in the living room, listening to my parents as they packed for California. The weekend had been spent with agenizing slowness, sitting around and waiting for my parents to leave as the others prepared for the group that was coming. Damon and I had both agreed that I should stay out of it, even though I knew that it was going to kill me to stand around and not know what was happening.

"Reily, can you help me carry these down the stairs while your father finishes packing his bag?" My mom's voice called from the top of the stairs. I rolled myself off the couch and fixed my shirt as I headed toward their room. I could hear the radio had been turned on in mom's office again, someone talking about the coming weather in the area.

"Hey, what do you need me to do?" I asked as I stepped into the doorway to my parent's master bedroom, a king-size bed in the center with clothes thrown recklessly around the place. "Dad, you know mom hates it when you mess up her room." I let a teasing hint slip into my voice, ducking when a large fluffy pillow soared in my direction. I heard the dulled thud as it hit the wall behind me, while mom's laughter came from the connecting bathroom.

"That wasn't nice, Reily."

"The truth hurts sometimes," I replied as I walked in, stepping over a pair of my mom's high heels and some of my dad's suit pants. I could hear the rattling around as mom got together all of their toiletries.

"There are the smaller bags beside our door; could you take those down to the landing, please?" Mom asked as she popped her head out from around the door, her short hair tipping to the side slightly. I simply nodded and moved over to the bags beside the door, looping the straps over my arms and turning back toward the stairs again. Who knew that it actually mattered so much to have keep your parents safe when there never really there...

"You're so quiet, is everything alright?" I looked up to my mother in curiosity, seeing that she actually had concern covering her aging features. My dad had made steaks that night for dinner, and I was usually very enthusiastic about the meal, I loved steak. But tonight there was so much on my mind that I hadn't even realized I was out of my natural way until my mom asked me that question.

"I'm fine, just a lot going on in my head right now. You know that feeling you get when you think that you've forgotten something, but don't know what it is?" My mom and dad nodded their heads, sharing a glance between them. "I guess it's just school, it's almost the end of the semester and Graduation's coming up, just too much to think about."

"Speaking of graduation, do you have any plans that you want to ask about. I know that you aren't much for partying." I shrugged my shoulder to my dad's question, looking back down at the well done steak that was only half eaten on my plate, accompanied with a baked potato and some veggies. "Will you be with Damon that night, maybe?" I looked up to my dad, seeing the amusement that danced in his eyes. I couldn't help the small grin that came to my face as I shook my head in mock exasperation.

"I would hope not," mom cut in, looking over to me again. "Darling, he's far too old for you, he's already in his twenties, and you're still-"

"How old was dad when you met?" I asked suddenly, looking up to my mother in masked annoyance. She went silent, knowing exactly where I was going with things. My father has been in his last year of law school when my mother was just finishing High School. At the time, she had sounded so proud of herself that she was able to catch the hot older man before anyone else, and that she was mature enough for him. But now, it seemed all her bragging finally came back to bite her in the ass, hard. "I'm not hungry anymore, I'll just put this in a dish and have it later." Pushing my chair away from the table, I didn't look at either of my parents as I picked up my plate and left the dining room. Yeah, a perfect way to end the last night they would be in town. But this was actually very normal, mom never did like how I wasn't following in her footsteps to become a lawyer. But the one thing I do follow, going after an older man, only seems to anger her.

After I had put my leftover food in the fridge, I jogged up to my room, grabbed my jacket, my keys, wallet and my phone, before I heading back downstairs again. My dad caught me before I was able to leave, standing in the doorway to the living room at the base of the stairs. I caught his gaze for a moment before he motioned with a quick jerk of his head toward the door. I smiled my thanks and darted outside, making sure so be quiet so that mom wasn't alert before absolutely necessary. Opening the garage door swiftly, I pulled on my jacket, zipping it up as I jogged over to me new helmet, then leaping onto my bike seconds later. Making sure that the pockets that my cell and wallet were in, I pulled my helmet on and strapped up, before I finally started the bike and kicked off out of the driveway within a matter of ten seconds.

I didn't bother looking back to see if mom had heard the bike or not, I just turned toward the Salvatore Boarding House at breakneck speed, but was still wary of any officers. As soon as I hit the forest area, I floored the bike through the darkness, feeling the wind as it flew up my sleeves, even a slight chill biting my fingers through my leather gloves. When the turn off came into sight I slowed the bike and took a sharp right, pulling up the driveway toward the house. Damon had said that he and the others would be talking about the whole operation that they were planning at the house, but that was a couple hours ago so I didn't know if they would still be there or not.

Stopping the bike just short of the path up toward the house, I clenched and unclenched my fingers as I sat back on the bike for a moment. Leaning forward again, I cut to engine and pulled out the key as I stood, before I began to undo the strap of helmet. As soon as I had pulled off the helmet, I turned to walk toward the front door, glad for the freedom when my head wasn't being suffocated. I jumped when I saw the dark form leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed with eyes watching me in amusement.

"Your mom let you come out here this late? Or am I teaching you some very bad habits?" Damon teased as he watched me make my way up the path, my hand over my erratically beating heart.

"My dad let me go without my mom knowing, but I'll probably get an ear full tomorrow morning." As soon as I was in arms reach, Damon's hand darted out to grab mine, pulling me up against a strong chest as he took a deep inhale of my hair. I knew that he could smell far better than I could, but it was kind of strange, knowing that he was sniffing me like an animal. But also, it was oddly flattering, knowing that he liked the way that I smelled.

"Elena and the others have already left, so I hope that wasn't what you came here for," Damon grumbled as his hands slipped around my waist, keeping me against his chest. I remained silent for a moment, wrapping my arms around his torso.

"I came here to be with you, Damon." My words seemed to hang in the air as he leaned back against the doorframe, while I leaned forward on his chest. One of Damon's hands moved up from my waist and began to gently run through my short hair.

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**All of the reviews that I have been getting from new people, and past reviewers saying that they're recommending my story is putting my ego through the roof. Thank you to everybody who has been reviewing the story so far, I almost don't have the time to keep up with how fast I need to update in order to keep with my promise of after a certain number of reviews. It's a great feeling to know that I'm helping new fanfic readers enjoy the stories that authors write more, as well.**

**I'll have the next chapter out after 19 reviews, and I can promise that you are all going to love it ;)**


	20. They Will Become The Addiction

**They Will Become The Addiction**

I looked down to where Damon sat on the edge of his bed, his hands on my hips as he looked up at me. His eyes were level with my chest, surprising me when he held eye contact instead of taking advantage of the position. I couldn't help the heat that spread through my body as I looked into his icy eyes, feeling his fingers twisting in my shirt as he slowly pushed his hands underneath the material. My heart pounded in my chest, my skin prickled and my whole body shivered. But I loved every moment, every feeling that he gave me, every high that I felt with each kiss and every arousing second of his caresses.

I knew that I hadn't been the ideal teenager to begin with, but he was changing me in ways that I had always vowed to avoid. But now, that rush from him was all I sought, I was addicted to him and everything about him. It wasn't like the addiction that I had with the blood that was held inside his body, no, it was nothing like that. This addiction was one that could get me killed, that I would die for. Kill for.

Hooking my fingers into the short sleeves of my tee-shirt, I pulled on the sleeves and raised the shirt up and over my head, leaving me wearing only my tank top beneath. Tossing the shirt aside, I pulled my legs up onto the bed so that I was straddling Damon's lap. His head tilted back so he could keep his eyes on my face as I pulled myself over him, his hands moving behind his head so I could pull him up into a kiss.

He didn't make a sound as I kissed him, but his hands moved up from my hips to along my back, the tips of his fingers sliding along the indent of my spine. I arched against the touch, pressing my chest and stomach further against him in the end. I could feel his lips move into a smirk from my reaction, his hands gliding back down to cause me to instinctively repeat the action.

The kiss grew more and more heated, the both of us pulling at the other. My right arm wrapped fully around Damon's neck so that his head was cradled in my elbow, my left hand lowering to his neck and collar as I felt along his skin. Damon's left arm wrapped tightly around the center of my back, pressing me tightly against his chest. His other hand moved down to pull my left leg up higher toward his hip, pressing our hips firmly together.

I knew that he could hear the quick racing of my heart, thundering against my ribcage so hard that I also wondered if he could feel it against his own chest. I tugged at the low collar of Damon's shirt in a silent command, but was still reluctant to part with him. I exhaled through my nose, taking in another deep breath of his scent.

Damon tugged sharply on my left leg as he turned his body, effectively rolling us until he was lying over me. I released my hold on his neck as the kiss slowed, my hands moving to work in his shirt. I continued to pull on his collar as my other hand dipped beneath the fabric to smooth over his toned abdomen. Keeping himself up with one arm, Damon used the other take hold of the back of the neck of his shirt and pulled it over his head, breaking our kiss. I hastily helped him remove the shirt faster before I pulled him down into another kiss.

But it wasn't enough. I wanted to feel his skin against my own, just like last week after the party. Before I could act on my thought on my own, Damon's hands had dipped down to bunch up my shirt until it was beneath my breasts, then took hold of the collar and pulled it over my head. I raised my arms to allow the shirt to come off, giving Damon free view of my exposed torso.

He made a small humming noise of approval before I lowered his head down to my neck and began to place gentle bites all along the left side. One particularly hard bite caused me to jump and arch up until my stomach brushed his. I could feel the tightening of his muscles in reaction moments before he lowered his body more fully onto my own. The skin contact sent a prickling sensation throughout my entire body, making me force myself to hold back a shiver.

Damon chuckled in amusement in my ear, his teeth gliding along the outer shell. I felt myself react without thought and bit his ear as well, although my bite was far more harsh than his had been. Damon's whole body tensed once I bit his ear, his teeth leaving my skin as he drew his head back slightly so that I could see one bright blue eye.

"That's fire you're playing with," He warned, his voice sounding akin to something such as a growl. I felt a wave of heat roll through my veins at the sound, going straight to my heart. I grinned as I looked into the blue with challenge.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not afraid of getting burned."

Damon growled again, this time sounding exactly like a savage animal, something I knew very well that he could very easily be. My moan of pleasure was muffled when Damon crushed his lips against my own, nipping harshly at my bottom lip with enough force to nearly draw blood. I knew that I had brought forth the tamed animal, but I couldn't help but wonder what the savage was like.

"Stop that. I want to sleep," I mumbled into the black pillow beneath my head. I could hear the deep chuckle of a reply as another open mouthed kiss fell along the back of my shoulders. I tried to ignore the kiss and go back to sleep, but another kiss was placed along my spine, slowly getting lower. A third kiss landed just above my ass, between the two small dimples that were just above the average panty line. "Damon." I had tried to make my voice sound like a warning, but I came out more like a wine than anything else. A sharp nip on my right cheek caused me to jump in shock as I bolted up in the bed, rolling over to face the grinning Vampire.

"I thought you liked it when I bit you?" Damon growled as he sat less than a foot from me, grinning in the darkness. I could only see him with the light that was coming in through the window, the thick blinds parted.

"Not on my ass." I whispered harshly, knowing that Stefan could probably hear our conversation. Damon's chuckled again, his blue eyes leaving mine as they wandered lower. I couldn't help but take notice of the position that he was in as well. He had the black sheets covering his lap, but his left leg was raised up from the blankets, showing the tense muscles of his thigh. He was leaning on his right arm, toward me, while his left arm was lazily lying over his toned stomach. If I had been any lesser of a woman, I would have drooled.

"Hm, you don't seem to mind the view as much as the bite," Damon teased. I looked up to his face again. The light from the window only lit up about a quarter of his face, but I could see the shadow of a dimple from his grin and had to send a mock glare back in his direction. Pulling the black sheets up over my body again, I fell into the pillows once more. I knew that Damon wasn't going to just let me sleep, that was easily known for anyone that had even briefly met the real Damon Salvatore, but I did wonder what he was going to do next.

Cool fingers closed around my ankle, startling me a moment, before I was pulled down the bed, sliding along the silk sheets easily. Damon only stopped pulling on my ankle when my face was just below his. He was in relatively the same position, using the hand that had been draped over his stomach to pull me down the bed.

"Bed head suits you," He teased again, his grin still in place. I could see his face a bit better now that I was closer, but it was still very dark. And, of course, he could see me perfectly.

"Shut up."

"Oh, feisty. But, now that I think about it, it looks more like sex hair."

"You're an ass."

"No, I bit your ass, but that doesn't make me an ass."

I moved to hit him in the chest, but he caught my wrist easily to stop me, using my arm to pull my upper body to his level. His lips brushed mine lightly once before he kissed me a second time with harsh force. My yelp of pain was muffled when he bit down on my bottom lip, drawing small beads of blood from the torn skin. Damon's groan was muffled as he pushed my back down to the mattress, his tongue beginning to lap over the cut he had created. Damon pulled away again before I even had time to react to his actions, only left dazed as I stared up at the dark ceiling.

He started to bite and nip at my neck moments later, drawing a startled gasp from the speed that he moved. His whole weight bore down on my, pressing me firmly into the mattress, preventing my escape. Heavy exhales puffed against my neck moments before a sharp pain shot through my nerves as elongated canines dug deeply into my skin. I groaned in pain quietly, trying to adjust to the feeling. Heavy exhales puffed against my neck moments before a sharp pain shot through my nerves as the sharp canines dug deeply into my skin. I groaned in pain quietly, trying to adjust to the feeling. I clawed at his back, trying to get a hold of something. My fingers hooked on his shoulder blades when one of his hands grasped my skull and pulled me closer to his mouth, his jaw closing further to dig deeper into my throat.

I could feel the hot red liquid as the blood from the bite began to run along my bare shoulder and neck, falling to stain on the sheets. A deep groan erupted from Damon, sounding his pleasant mood as he took one last deep gulp of my blood before he pulled away. He began to lick up the blood that had escaped past his lips, his tongue gliding over my skin smoothly. The bite wound was beginning to throb in pain, almost burning. I tried to take in calming breaths, my nails still digging into Damon's shoulders.

He pulled himself, and me as well, into a sitting position. Our previous placement left me now straddling one of his bare thighs with nothing between us. A strong arm was wrapped around me back to keep me tight against his form while his free hand moved to his neck. I didn't even have to wonder what he was doing by this point, merely waited patiently for my drug. Damon's nail pulled along his skin, leaving a deep gouge in the crook of his neck. He pulled my head forward in the same moment that I moved on my own, biting my teeth around the cut as the blood began to flow into my mouth.

Damon's breathing was still heavy against my shoulder as he wrapped me tightly in his arms, letting me relax against him without having to worry about falling away from him in fatigue. The sweet taste of his blood caressed my tongue pleasantly, sending warm tingling straight to my brain. My grip eased on his back, my arms sliding down so that I was left holding him in a loose embrace as my hands nearly grazed his ass.

I could feel the pain in my neck slowly ebbing away, leaving only a warm sensation behind. I could feel Damon beginning to pull away, and in order to avoid a scene like the one that had happened the last time I drank from him, I pulled away fully before he could make me. Looking up to his face as soon as I was away from his neck, Damon grinned.

"Hm, I still say you're my little non-vampire, vampire." His teasing tone caused me to want to roll my eyes, but I digressed. "How about a shower, before the blood dries and gets uncomfortable?" He asked, a dark and lusty look coming to his eyes. I raised a brow in a taunting manner. Pulling up to kiss his lips, leaving a strain of his own blood on his lips, I pulled away again and slid from the bed to head toward the bathroom. I knew that I was as naked as the day that I was born, and quite frankly I hoped that it drove him crazy to see me walking away from him, but he deserved it.

Walking into his spacious bathroom, I flipped on only the light for the shower, leaving the rest of the room in darkness. Turning on the shower, I held my hand under the stream for a moment and briefly wondered how long it would take for Damon to come in as well—as he surely would—but brushed the thought aside. Once the water was warm enough, I slipped under the spray and watched as the water flowed down my body, turning a light pink, then a dark red as more blood was washed from my skin. Turning my face up to the spray of the shower so that the blood around my mouth could wash away, I let myself relax in the warm water.

The sound of the glass door sliding shut behind me didn't cause me to jump as it may have in the past, but instead, I smiled. His arms wrapped around my chest from behind moments later, pulled me back against his chest as the water slickened our skin. I leaned back heavily against him, resting my head on his shoulder as I felt him lean his head slightly against mine. Damon only moved once as he lifted his hand up to the centre of my chest, over my heart to feel the calm beat.

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**Wow, my hands are starting to cramp up from all the typing. But this is good, it's giving me motive to get all my plans for this story written. Anyway, I was wondering when in the story I had said that Riley throws an alarm clock? I know that she throws some books at him and swings a candle stick, but I just don't remember an alarm clock... :S**

**Anyway, I hope that you all love this chapter. I just wanted to give everyone some Riley/Damon alone time :) 20 Reviews before the next chapter!**


	21. The Won't Lose The Fight

**IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ!**

**I just wanted to let you know, because I'm sure that this will be confusing, but I accidently updated with the wrong chapter, I put up 22 instead of 21 and I realized a bit late. So, this is the missing chapter, before Riley's parents leave.**

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**They Won't Lose The Fight**

"Okay, this is strange."

I laughed quietly to myself as I shook my head, continuing to scramble the eggs inside the white bowl. Elena sat at the island a couple of feet away, drinking a warm tea that I had helped make for her. After making sure that the eggs were mixed well enough I poured them into the frying pan on the hot burner of the stove. I was glad when I found that there was often food left in the house for when Elena came over. I was wearing a pair of Damon's boxers, silky black ones that he insisted I had to try on and my under shirt from the night before.

"Yea, I know what you mean." I grinned to myself as I retrieved the cheese that I had graded for the omelette. The sun was barely even in the sky and Elena had come over to wake me up in time to make sure that I got to my home before my parents left for the airport. They were getting a ride there, so I couldn't go with them without getting stranded.

"I don't have any idea what you two are talking about," Damon said as he strode into the room, fully dressed, walking straight up to me and wrapping an arm around my waist as he looked down at the food in the pan. His breath caressed my ear before he spoke in a low, husky voice, "I love your outfit. Do you plan on wearing it often?"

"Damon," I started in a warning tone, actually achieving the proper tone this time instead of sounding as though I was complaining. Damon chuckled quietly before he turned away from me, but not before sharply pinching my ass first. I jumped and glared over my shoulder at the back of his head. Arrogant son-of-a-bitch.

"Hello, Elena, and where may my dear brother be now?"

"Good morning, Damon." Elena sighed. I just knew that she must have been rolling her eyes. I quickly finished putting the cheese on the omelette and looking around for the spatula. Flipping the egg and sliding it onto a plate with practiced ease, I could hear Damon give a low whistle from behind me.

"If you show guys that you can cook that well, marriage proposals would be just lining up." I withheld the urge to elbow him in the gut, and instead just walked over to the island to join Elena after I had gotten a fork. After all, my elbow would probably sustain the most—if not all—damage.

"Are you going to be coming back here after school and spending the night here?" Elena asked as she turned to face me, acting as though Damon wasn't even in the room. "You did agree to stay away from the whole vampire fight, right?"

"Yea, I'm staying away, for my own protection. I'll be coming here after I stop by at my house. When are you guys all going to be leaving for the hunt for the other vampires?" I asked, the question leaving my mouth awkwardly. Elena seemed to catch on and gave me an assuring smile.

"Don't worry, you get used to it. Besides, how often can you be attacked by rogue vampires and be forced to get used to talking about it?" I think she meant to tease, but my mind drifted back to when I had been taken.

"Given the rap sheet that I've heard he has," I said as I pointed my fork over to Damon, who feigned hurt at my words, "I wouldn't be surprised if there was an army."

"Trouble in paradise?" Stefan asked as he strode into the kitchen, only catching the last bit of the conversation, clearly.

Damon grinned and I didn't even have to think about the words that were going to come from his mouth, "If you had heard us last night you wouldn't be asking that." Elena choked on her tea slightly as her face became a deep scarlet. I laughed quietly in embarrassment as I patted her on the back. Stefan just shook his head, as though he were sorry that he had asked at all.

"You set yourself up for that one, you know?" I asked, giving a small grin. I was just going to have to get used to the way that Damon acted, which meant that a bit of embarrassment now and then was definitely something to adapt to.

"Sorry," He laughed back, kissing Elena on the cheek in greeting once she had stopped coughing. I returned to my omelette as the group began to talk more on the plans for the vampire hunt. I was going to be staying here with them until they leave and then I was going to be dropped off at my own place for the night. If they weren't back by the next morning I was going to stay inside my house and avoid leaving as much as possible encase someone came to get me. I would then have to keep myself locked indoors until someone from our little group came to get me.

"Wouldn't she be safer here?" Elena asked as he looked between the two brothers.

"There's a higher chance that they could get into the boarding house without anyone noticing. If Riley stays home than there are her neighbours that these vampires need to think about." Stefan had a point, but there was still one big factor that contradicted what he was saying.

"But I was kidnapped in broad daylight last time right from my garage, either none of my neighbours noticed, or they clearly don't like me and didn't call it in."

The other three fell silent as they looked to be. Damon seemed to have a far more intense look than the others, but that was to be expected—I don't think Elena is able to glare anywhere near as fearfully as Damon can when he wants to. Stefan's face had tightened into a serious look, one that I had become accustomed to calling his 'thoughtful look'.

"You're staying here then," Damon declared, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"But-"

"We'll have to talk more about this later," I cut in, knowing that Elena would surely be the one to stand up to Damon, and hoped to prevent such. "I need to be getting home so that I can get ready for school and see my parents off." Dropping my plate into the sink with a promise to clean it later, I rushed toward the stairs.

"Hm, the view is even better when she's running away," Damon's voice called from behind me. I had half a mind to turn around and yell at him, but at the same time the words struck that lust inside of me that I was only beginning to discover. I quickly closed Damon's bedroom door behind me and gathered my things in a rush. Just to spite Damon, I kept his boxers on and left my panties on the floor by his bed.

Once I had made sure that I didn't still have bedhead and using the bathroom quickly, I checked for my cell, keys and wallet before I bolted back down the stairs. I ran into Stefan and Elena at the bottom, who were heading toward the living room for a while before school.

"Good luck braving your mother," Elena teased, leaning back against Stefan's chest. I scoffed in mock annoyance before I grinned and tossed a goodbye over my shoulder. My helmet was on the table by the front door right where I had left it, thank god, and I was pretty sure that I was going to make it on time without having to break too many speeding laws.

"Are you stealing my boxers?"

The voice sounded beside my ear only milliseconds before two arms wrapped tightly around my waist, pulling my back against a solid body. I wiggled my ass against his hips as an evil grin found my lips. I looked back at Damon as a small growl was my reply.

"These are more comfortable." I pulled away from him as I walked through the front door, beginning to pull my helmet on. One single hand stopped me though when I had the helmet halfway down my face, pulling the protective gear back up to my forehead.

"You're an extremely hard person to understand," Damon admitted as he leaned forward to place a kiss to the corner of my mouth. "I'll be waiting here for you after school, come straight here." Placing another kiss, this time fully on the lips, I pressed forward in response. As soon as he pulled away the first thing I saw were those bright blue eyes, the second thing I saw was that cocky grin that graced those amazing lips.

"Aw, don't go all soft and start worrying about me, Damon," I teased, before I grabbed hold of the font of his leather jacket and pulled him down for another kiss. I knew that he could have easily avoided letting me pull him down, but I still liked the thought that I was taking charge. After I released him from the kiss, I finally pulled my helmet on and walked down the path toward my bike.

Throwing one leg over the bike, I pulled out the keys from my pocket. Zipping up my leather jacket and adjusting my leather gloves, I chanced a glance up toward the Boarding House. Damon stood leaning against the brick bordering with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He wore a serious look on his face, that same scowl looking glower that he wore when he wasn't flirting or being an ass. Nodding my head to him, I kicked the bike forward and made a full U-turn in their driveway before I taking off for the road.

I let myself speed through the forest roads without much thought, almost on auto-pilot by this point in time. I had done this trip so often recently that I didn't even bother keeping full concentration on the road at all. I only began to do the actual speed limit when I began to drive through the more populated areas. I was glad that the trip between the Salvatore Boarding Home and my own house wasn't that long, otherwise there was a high possibility that I may have gotten into an accident because of my wondering mind.

Turning up my driveway and into the open garage, I knew right away that I was in trouble when I saw my mom's bike locks were out. She had bought the bike locks last year when I had started to abuse the use of my bike and my mom locked it inside of the garage for two weeks. I was like a junkie that had their drug just snatched right from under their nose. My dad found it hilarious that I had actually gone through _withdrawal_ from a motorcycle.

Turning of the engine and dismounting the bike, I pulled off my helmet and placed it on the seat. I paused when I began to head toward the house as I looked back at the locks. Maybe I should just hide them and say that someone came in and stole them because the door had been left open? No, my mother could see my lying even if I was yards away from her. Damn Lawyer. Resuming my trek to the house as I began to undo my jacket, I made a silent note to plea for my bikes freedom as soon as I saw my mom.

"I told you that she would make it on time."

I looked up at the sound of my father's voice, seeing him standing with a very upset looking woman at his side. I tried to smile to my mom, but the dark look of anger that she held in her eyes caused my good mood to falter. I had a very strong feeling that we would not be parting on good terms. And she knew that I wasn't going to let her live it down. Every time she and dad left while mom and I were on bad terms, I would refuse to acknowledge her until she apologized first. I know, I can be a bitch.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss saying goodbye." Greeting my father with a hug, I hesitated when I turned to my mother. She glared at me all the while that I was hugging dad, so I thought that it was better for my own safety that I avoid getting within arms length of the woman.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, spending the night at the boy's house? I bet you're going to say that you just slept, again?" Mom demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest, the same way that Damon's have been as I drove away. I glared back at her, not able to keep my temper reigned in.

"I had dad's permission, as much as you want to believe it's not like the law is 'mom's word is final', alright?" I began to walk passed the two of them to head inside, pausing as I opened the door. "And just for your information, Damon's a man, not a boy, and no, we didn't just sleep!" Slamming the front door to my dad's booming laughter and my mother's scarlet face; I rushed up the stairs before hurricane René blew through.

Closing my bedroom door and locking it behind me, I let out a sigh as I leaned back against the wood. My heart was racing in my chest as I thought about what I had just done. I had admitted to my mom that I had had sex with Damon and then proceeded to close the door in her face. I was going to get an ear full when they got back, that was for sure. But until then I was going to have to live with everything. Shucking my clothes off quickly so that I could grab a shower before school, I tried to calm myself down over the whole incident before I had a heart attack.

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**I felt like having Riley confront her mom, hope you liked it and I didn't make it overly corny :P**

**PLEASE READ: I'm not trying to sound like I'm accusing anyone of anything, but I'm starting to get the feeling that someone is sending numerous anonymous reviews just so I'll update. They all sound alike and are sent within minutes of each other. I want to hear what everyone has to say, not one person five times. If it continues, I'm going to disable my anonymous reviews and you MUST have an account to review. I'm sorry for those that are reading the story and have no account, if you really want you can send my account a message and I'll still count it as a review. I will only disable anonymous reviews if it continues again, so for whoever is doing it, I suggest you stop for the sake of other readers. Sorry for any inconvenience.**


	22. They Will Keep Their Secrets Buried

**They Will Keep Their Secrets Buried**

It had been two days since my parents had left for their new case and—to say the least—things were interesting in the Boarding House. Elena would constantly come over and visit after school, Damon would constantly badger me while I tried to study for finals, and my dad would constantly call my cell to try and convince me to call my mom and apologize to her. I tried to keep my mind on track and took as much time as I could to myself since I had temporarily moved into the Salvatore Household. But, it was just one of those times when you just can't wait for everything to go back to normal. Don't get me wrong, I had nothing wrong with sleeping in Damon's arms every night, although I could do without getting woken up every morning bit a sharp bite to my neck. I was just glad that it only left a red mark and he didn't break the skin. I actually have become someone that looks forward to the morning, if only to watch Damon walking around the room either naked or in only his boxers. Delicious.

It was now Thursday morning and tomorrow night was when the 'team' of Vampire hunters was heading out to take care of the family that was out to kill me. What a pleasant thought that one was. It had been argued about and, because of Damon threatening bodily harm, decided that I was indeed staying at the Boarding House tomorrow night and waiting for them here. Elena and I were going to be getting some groceries on the way over after school so that there was absolutely no reason for me to leave the building while they were away.

Collecting my clothing for the day, I made sure that I didn't leave any important articles behind, such as underwear or my bra. I stumbled as my feet tangled in the silky dark blue sheets, Damon having changed them after we had bled all over them the other night, and had to catch hold of the post before I had the chance to fall face first onto the floor. My clothes fell along the hardwood as my arms wrapped around to post to the point where it looked like I was trying to do a stripper dance.

And of course, Damon chose that moment to walk from the bathroom after finishing his shower. I froze, looking like a deer caught in the headlights as Damon stood still in the doorway to the bathroom. I must have been a sight to see, that was for sure. Wearing nothing but Damon's black silk boxers and my night time shirt that was missing the mid-section with my hair in a, as Damon calls it, 'fuck me style', all the while I'm nearly pole dancing on one of his large bedposts.

It was times like this that I wished I had a photographic memory, because the look on his face was something that I never wanted to forget. The size of his blue eyes was something that I had never seen before as he actually looked _shocked beyond belief._ Standing in nothing more than a towel, his body still dripping with the water from his shower with his dark hair brushed back as though it were gelled, he looked every bit a sex god. But as soon as his eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly in shock, I wished I could have remembered that look forever, because only a second later there was a huge ass smirk on his face as he propped himself up against the doorframe using one of his arms .

"Well, if you wanted so badly to please me-"

"Don't you dare," I cut in, carefully un-twirling myself from the post before I collected my clothing from the ground. I did my best to hold my blushing face up as I moving to walk past the still ever smirking Vampire so that I could shower before school. Damon slipped an arm around my waist just before I was able to walk past him, pulling me up against his still dripping chest as he assaulted my mouth with his own. I was shocked when he released me so soon after the kiss had begun and promptly moved away to get dressed. I stumbled back to catch my balance as I just watched his back as he walked away, no doubt with an arrogant look on his perfect face.

Sitting through school was one of the most boring experiences of my life at the moment. The teachers were all piling on assignments last minute before exams later this month and I was sure that just about every student was getting ready to take the blame for homicide as we all plotted to kill the teachers in their sleep. The only class that I didn't mind was Alaric's class, because I had finished early and spent the rest of the class leaning against the chalkboard behind his desk talking with him as he turned in his chair to face me.

I was sure that the rest of the class thought that I was probably having an affair with the teacher because of the way that I was acting, but I didn't care. Damon had dropped my off at school today and had promised, even though it sounded like a threat to the other students, that he was going to come and get me once school ended.

"Did the others finally decide where you're going to be staying tomorrow night?" Alaric asked after he had finished yelling at the guys in the back of the class when one of them had pulled out a football. I had just laughed quietly when he switched from hunter to teacher mode in a matter of seconds.

"Yea, I'll be staying at the Boarding House. At Damon's insistence, of course." Alaric chuckled quietly as he shook his head in mock exasperation.

"I'm not surprised, and it's easy to tell that no one else is either. I have a feeling that everyone was kind of expecting for Damon to pitch a fit about me staying at my own house."

"I don't doubt that they were," Alaric agreed, nodding his thanks as one of the guys from the back of the class handed in their work. The paper was stained and crumpled, but finished none the less. The guy, who's name I couldn't remember for the life of me, nodded to me as well with a smirk on his face in a 'how you doin'?' manner.

"Good thing that Damon's not here right now," I muttered to myself, knowing that only Alaric could hear. I could hear him chuckle beside me as I raised my eyebrow and glowered at the guy's back as he walked away. I was sure that his friends were going to tell him about that look as soon as he reached them.

The bell that sounded the end of class broke through the loud voices in the class, the familiar noise getting everyone to their feet as they tossed their things inside their bags. I pushed away from the chalkboard and quickly retrieved my backpack and binder from my desk. I was the last to head toward the door as I adjusted the weight in my arms.

"Chalk line!" Alaric called after me. Without looking back I began to brush at my ass, where I had been leaning against the edge of the chalkboard. "You're good." I turned only when I had reached the door, facing Alaric with a smirk.

"Better not let Damon know that you were looking at my ass." I could see his eyes widen in shock, quickly followed by him jumping up to reply before I darted around the corner to get to my locker before my next class. Waving to Bonnie as I passed her along the way, I quickly swapped binders, checked my back for more chalk, before rushing to get through the crowds of people.

Once lunch had rolled around I was just praying for the end of school, maybe there would be some kind of freak storm and the power would go out and we could all go home. I am totally for sitting in front of the fireplace the rest of the day with Damon. I really was becoming addicted, I was having separation issues.

"Someone misses their lover," Caroline teased at lunch as she bumped her hip against mine. I glared at her in mock anger, bumping her back. "I can't blame you, hun, yummie."

"Down girl," Bonnie laughed as she joined us, placing her water bottle and side bag on the table before she sat down across from Caroline. "But it is easy to tell that you miss him, Ri, you're practically depressed." I stuck out my tongue at her before I took another bite of my salad.

"Is Elena coming too?" Caroline asked as she looked over to Bonnie.

"Yea, she's just meeting Stefan first."

"I bet that if Stefan wasn't going to the same school then Elena would be going through separation issues as well," I grumbled, the other two girls at the table laughing at my expense.

"What's so funny over here?" Stefan asked as he walked up with Elena. The sight of Elena being so close to her man had me longing for my own vampire. I replied to their question as 'nothing' at the same time that Bonnie and Caroline said 'she misses Damon'. Elena seemed to believe the other two, and with good reason, as she gave me a sympathetic smile.

"She's going through withdrawal from her Vampire," Caroline said as she patted my arm. I glared at her a moment before I pulled away in shock as my muffled mind registered what she had just said.

"Whoa, you know?" Caroline looked like a deer caught in headlights now, instead of me, as she looked over to Elena for help. "No, no excuses. How long have you known, why didn't you all tell me?" I asked as I lowered my voice so that no one else could hear.

"Riley," Caroline started as she turned toward me, taking my hands in her own as she looked at me carefully. Her large blond curls looked like they had been done by a professional beautician and I briefly wondered what had caused things to end between her and Damon. "I'm going to need you to not freak on me, alright?" I raised an eyebrow at this new and serious Caroline, fixing her with a suspicious look before I nodded in agreement. "The reason that I know is because I'm a Vampire."

_What?_

I sat staring at Caroline as I thought over what had just come from her mouth. She was a Vampire? She was the living dead? I just continued to stare at her for a moment as the words worked slowly through my mind. What was with things recently, I could have sworn she had a pulse the last time I had checked. When had it been done, how had it been done? Was it Damon that changed her?

I took hold of her wrist as she held still, letting me feel for a pulse. There wasn't one.

"Oh god." Getting to my feet, I stepped away from the table for a moment as I pushed my hands into my hair in shock. When had I become so distant from my friends that I didn't even realise when one of them wasn't technically living anymore?

"It's alright that you didn't notice," Caroline said quickly as she walked up in front of me, taking hold of my wrists and lowering them from my hair. "I was trying to make sure that no one knew, not even Damon realized after it had first happened and he's got way better senses than you do." She fixed the mess that I had done to my hair gently, giving me a smile once she was done.

"So who did it then? I had thought Damon, but if you say that he didn't know..." Her smile faded away as she looked over to Stefan and Elena, who shook her head to the silent question.

"You should ask Damon, he can explain it more easily, alright?"

Lunch was a far more awkward affair after I had returned to the table. Everyone was trying to make things seem comfortable and normal, but there was no way that I was going to just adjust to the news that had been dropped on me so quickly. I hardly touched my food, worrying Elena for sure. I even had a brief moment when I thought I heard Stefan ask her is he should call Damon. No matter what I had been feeling about school work before lunch, I was going to be so relieved to get back to classes after the incident at lunch so that I didn't have to keep talking so much when the girls kept trying to get my mind away from Caroline being a Vampire.

I was walking across the yard toward the music hall when I was yanked to a stop. I knew right away that the person who was stopping me was human. After having Damon tug me around for the past couple of days, it was easy to tell when the grip was inhumane.

"Hey, Riley, you look a bit angry." I looked up to Jeremy, shocked at his height. "Is everything alright?"

"Wow," I said, looking him up and down. I knew that it looked like I was checking him out, but I felt so tiny right now. When I had last stood by him I was wearing my heels for the party, and now wearing just my boots, he was a couple inches taller than I was. "Did you hit a growth spurt in the past couple of, I don't know, days?" Jeremy laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, causing his biceps to flex. Jeez, this guys definitely isn't the kid that I remember from when I first met Elena. "God, can't treat you like a kid anymore, huh, Jer?"

"You never treated me like a kid in the first place, that's what I liked about you. All of Elena's other friends just treated me like the younger brother." I chuckled as I nodded in agreement. I remember when I had first met Jeremy, he had been playing a war video game in the living room when Elena and I walked in. Elena had gone to talk to her parents so I just plopped down on the couch and asked if the game was two player.

"Anyway, I'm fine. Just thinking about some big news a friend told me. I need to be getting to music though, so I'll just catch you later, alright?"

"Yea, I'll be coming over tomorrow night, I'll see you for sure then."

_Tomorrow night?..._

_Wait, what?_

_

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**I'm sorry that it took me so long to update! My computer got a virus on it, and my sister-god bless her-saved it before it crashed. I have a terrible knack for finding all the websites that have viruses. It's like it's gods way of telling me I need to lay off for a while! Anyway, so sorry about the wait, but it's here now! I hope you all like it, and I would like to dedicate the chapter's awkward moment to Carrie. Thanks for all the amazing reviews!**

**The next update in 21 reviews! :)**


	23. They Won't Be The Same

**They Won't Be The Same**

**~Damon~**

A human woman. A tall, thin, blond woman with the glare of death and the arrogance of a freight train, but also, with the body that could force any celibate man to change his beliefs. I'm not saying that that glare of hers scared me, maybe the average human male, but not me. No, that glare lit a fire inside of me that no blood could. Her attitude, her body, and her blood were such an addiction and rush that it would have been impossible for me to stay away from her even if I had tried in the beginning. Now I'm glad, more than I would admit even to myself, that I had compelled Riley Rain that night at the Grill.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

I tilted my head to the side slightly as I smirked to Riley, who stood in front of my with her arms crossed over her chest and her face tightened in a deep scowl. I just reclined back on the couch in front of the fire as she stopped before me, not before storming through the house to find me, and abruptly stated the obvious.

"What, dare I ask, have I done this time?" I asked, seeing her whole body tense in anger. Alright, I was getting very curious now. What had I done to make her so angry this time, I wasn't sure.

"Caroline's a vampire?" The smirk on my face dropped like a rock sinking inside a pond. One of Riley's eyebrows lifted higher than the other, an obvious show that she was waiting for me to say something. When I didn't, she seemed to think this was her cue to continue. "Not only that, but Jeremy's on your little hunting team? How much have you refrained from telling me, Damon?"

"Who told you?" I growled out, my fist clenching where it hung over the side of the couch. I bit my jaw closed tightly, glaring at the wall past her head. She stayed silent, and when I was sure at least a minute passed, I turned my eyes to look into her own. She didn't look as angry, but she didn't look cooperative either.

"Caroline let it slip that she knew about Vampires, I called her on it and she admitted how she knew. When I asked her if it was you who turned her-"

"Why the hell would I want to change Caroline, I can't stand her," I growled out, getting to my feet. I headed straight for the liquor cabinet, hearing Riley jog after me across the hardwood floors.

"I know that, she told me to ask you who changed her when she refused to tell me!" Riley yelled as she pushed herself between me and the cabinet. I refrained from growled at the woman before her, seeing that she seemed just as angered as I was. "And don't you dare tell me that it's not my business, it became my business the second you pulled me into all of this. Even if you hadn't, then I would have found out eventually that one of my closest friends was _dead!_"

"Calm down," I ordered. I hadn't meant to sound like a drill sergeant, but she was becoming hysterical and I didn't know if I could calm her down when I was this pissed off myself. What was wrong with that dumbass blond and keeping her mouth shut?

"No! I won't calm down! Caroline is dead! She's the living dead, and then on top of that _Jeremy_ is a _hunter?_" She lunged forward and pushed hard against my chest, only causing me to bend back so that I could take in impact without hurting her fists. She continued to beat on my chest several more times, before giving up and pushing herself away from me.

"I couldn't stop Caroline from becoming a Vampire, Riley," I said in the calmest voice I could manage. I looked over to Riley as she sat down on the couch that I had just vacated. "I tried to get Jeremy to leave his little heroic moment of insanity, but he's still firmly convinced that he's invincible." Walking over toward the couch, I sat down in the chair across from her.

It was strange, we were almost in the exact same placement that we had been in when I had first told her about compulsion. She had been sitting on the couch between Elena and Bonnie while I sat in this very chair and was forced to admit to everything. Well, as forced as I could be.

Riley leaned herself forward as her elbows dug into her thighs, her fingers dragging through her hair as she let out a long breath through her nose. A silence fell over the room, at least to regular human ears. I could hear Riley's ragged breathing, her fast heartbeat, and the birds outside of the boarding house. I focused on her heartbeat, listening for whether or not it was calming back to its regular pace. After a couple of minutes, Riley's heartbeat had begun to calm and her breathing was slower, but her whole body was still tense as she looked down the floor with her face contorted into a dark glare at the rug.

"I thought it was out in the open," Riley finally muttered, her words as loud as a siren next to my ear. She didn't look up at me as she spoke, but I was kind of glad for that. "I thought that I didn't have to worry about any other dark secrets coming out from _your _past to bite _me_ in the ass!" Her angry eyes lifted to meet mine finally, the pure hatred there causing my dead heart to almost jolt.

"My past is full of dark secrets," I mumbled back, holding her cold stare. "Whether I tell you about my past fully or not probably won't protect you anymore than if all those secrets remained just that, secret." I didn't expect that to end things, and of course it didn't.

"Who turned Caroline?" She asked slowly, my anger snapping for a moment at her tone. What did she think I was, retarded?

"Rile-"

"Don't fucking lie to me anymore!" I leaned back in shock as Riley stood, her voice rising to a new level as her heartbeat jumped into a quick pace once more. "Stop with the secrets, stop holding back everything from me. I hate it when I keep hearing your past from everyone else, keep hearing what you should be telling me from another person. So this time, you tell me! Who the fuck messed with my friend!" I stood faster than she could see, standing in front of her with an imposing height next to hers. Riley could be considered very tall to everyone else, but she was still tiny to me. Before I had a chance to say anything to her, Riley's eyes widened in shock, before she threw her fist forward against my cheek.

I stumbled back, the shock of her hit freezing my brain for a moment. I sound of her knuckles breaking against my cheekbone echoed in my head, the shattering sound Riley's pained screaming drowning it out moments later. I looked back over to her as she cradled her hand against her stomach, her eyes closed and her jaw locked. She stomped her foot on the ground as she groaned in pain. The smell of her blood reached my senses, kick starting my actions.

Taking hold of her hand before she could move anymore, I looked down at the injury. The skin was torn open and bleeding steadily, small bits of white showing through the skin from her fractured bones. She hissed painfully, trying to pull her hand back, but I held onto her wrist with an iron grip. Keeping her hand in mine, I raised my free hand to my mouth, biting into my wrist.

"No! Let me go, I'm just going to go to the hospital!" She yelled, tugging her hand again in a futile attempt to get me to release her. I pulled her wrist hard, tugging her up against me as she continued to fight. She attempted to elbow me in the gut with her uninjured arm, luckily not hard enough to damage herself further.

"If you stop hurting yourself I'll tell you what you want to know."

Riley stopped moving for a moment, her cheeks red as she held back tears with her injured arm trembling in pain. It didn't take her long to nod in agreement, allowing me to take better hold of her without her injuring herself again and carry her up to my bedroom. Sitting her down on the bed, I bit down into healed my wrist again, holding it out to Riley. She looked at the red liquid for a moment, hesitating only a second before she gently placed her mouth over the bite.

I watched and listened as her hand healed. The bones cracked and snapped as they set back into place, the white disappearing from the injury before the skin began to knit back together. She pulled away from my wrist first, turning her face over to the opposite wall. This was different, and unsettling. I didn't like it very much when I had to tell her the first time that about everything that happened to her at my cause, but when it happened a second time it was even worse.

"Her name was Katherine."

Riley looked over to me again, surprise etching her features.

"She was the woman that turned Stefan and I a while back. She gave us her blood, and when we were both shot, we came back to life and had a choice. If we drank human blood, we would become a vampire just like her, or we could refuse to drink blood and shrivel up and die. I first through that Katherine had perished in a fire when the village tried to kill at the vampires, but it turns out that they were all merely put inside an underground tomb. I'd spent a lot of years trying to find a way to get her out of that tomb, I thought I loved her." Riley's eyes looked away from my own at my words, a flash of hurt causing my frown to deepen. "But she hadn't been in the tomb, when I finally opened it.

She had been able to get away by compelling a guard. She had been free all this time and never once did she come looking for me. It was then that I realized real fast that I never loved her; she was just a bitch that wanted everything and anything, including me and Stefan." I held back a smirk when I saw the corner of Riley's lips twitch as she fought a smile. "She came back though, causing a whole lot of shit around Mystic Falls. Caroline got caught in the middle."

"So, Caroline was turned because of something from your past?"

"Actually," I quickly put in, seeing her look to me in the corner of her eye. "It was something from Katherine's past. She's mixed up in a lot of crap and needs to get things done. She's done a lot of things that you're not going to want to know, and I quite frankly don't want to tell you."

"If it's worse than what I already know, keep that one to yourself," Riley muttered. She moved slowly, carefully, as she laid down onto her side on the edge of the bed, her head falling to rest in my lap. "I'm sorry that I went crazy on you. Thank you for healing my hand."

"You're a little hellion when you're angry, aren't you?" I finally teased, a smirk touching my lips. Riley smacked her hand against my thigh gently, though a small smile caressed her features. "I'm serious when I tell you that it would be better for you not to know my past. It'll probably give you nightmares for months."

"Haha," Riley muttered, her finger gently tracing circles and patterns on my thigh. The sensation was odd, new. I didn't quite know what to do with our position, but Riley seemed content with it, so I just let her have her way and sat back as I watched her finger glide along my jeans. "I don't want to sound like some clingy, sulky girlfriend; but I don't want you to go away this weekend."

"You gunna miss me that much?"

"Everyone was teasing me at lunch today about missing my vampire," She explained quietly, her smile lingering. "I did, you know. I miss you when you're not around. I've gotten so used to you always being present."

Leaning forward until my face was leant over her own, Riley turned onto her back so that she was looking up at me, her curly short hair falling back and out of her face. "Then we'll just have to make you that you don't forget my last night here before I leave, now won't we?" I growled out, feeling her shudder against my legs afterward. Slipping a hand beneath her head, I pulled her up into a rough kiss, wrapping my other arm around her shoulders. Lifting her body up against mine, I let myself fall back against the mattress as Riley threw a leg over my hips until she was straddling me. The presence of her thighs on either side of my hips was maddening, the heat coming off of her flesh in waves was so inviting.

Hours later, the sun only beginning to set, I lay with Riley tucked tightly against my stomach. She had fallen asleep only a couple of minutes prior and she was still in the very light stages of sleep, her breath ghosting out onto my arm with ever exhale. I couldn't stop myself from just staring down at her face, the light and soft skin having been distorted into such a look of hatred only hours before that it was shocking.

I didn't want this.

I didn't want Riley to be stressed and angry at me because of my past, so I try to hide it, but then she finds out that I'm hiding it and only becomes far more furious than I could have imagined.

Riley shifted around slowly in her sleep, drawing my attention back to her. Her hand lifted up to my arm that her head was resting on, her fingers gliding along until she came to my hand. I swore my heart jumped as I watched her elegant fingers slide between mine, holding onto my hand gently. A smile graced the sleeping woman's face as she held my hand in her own, falling still again, content. I just lay still and looked at our hands, her warm fingers gripping mine.

_Even in her sleep she wants me nearby?_

_

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_**I've decided to update early because of all the confusion and wait. I feel bad, and embarrassed :P**

**Anyway, I've been home sick the past couple of days and have had a huge chance to write out the story and I have until nearly the final chapter finished, so the faster you get those reviews in, the faster I can update, and I promise to be more careful with which chapters I put up!**

**23 reviews before an update, quickly, please! I'm really looking forward to what you think!**


	24. They Won't Speak Up

**They Won't Speak Up**

It was hard to watch as everyone gathered their things inside the drawing room of the Salvatore home. I could only sit to the side and watch as everyone packed up stakes, guns, vervain, ect. Caroline had stepped in with a small smile of sympathy to me, getting a look of pure death from Damon as she passed him. As soon as Jeremy had stepped inside, I felt my heart jerk in near pain.

"Hey, good to see you again," I greeted, sitting on the chair in front of the fireplace.

"Sorry if I dropped a bomb on you, yesterday. When I told Elena I let it slip she nearly bit my head off," He apologized, sitting on the arm of the chair. I waved the apology away.

"Nah, it's going to be something that I'm going to need to get used to. Damon's got a long, dark past and there's going to be a lot of skeletons falling out of his closet." Jeremy squeezed my shoulder with a strong hand in reassurance, before excusing himself to help Alaric. I looked away from the group to the fireplace, watching the wood slowly burn away.

"Stop moping." I looked up to see Damon standing next to the chair, his approach was silent as death. I pursed my lips and turned away, silently saying 'I'm not moping' in my actions. Damon's strong hand on the side of my head confused me suddenly before I felt him draw me toward him so that I was pressed against his side, his hand still cradling my head against his strong stomach. I realized that this was his best way of trying to comfort me and I smiled softly.

Hooking my fingers into the pocket of his jeans, I leaned more heavily against him, remembering the night before when I had confessed how much I would miss him. The heat from the fire warmed my skin, and I briefly wondered if my cheeks were suddenly so warm because of the dancing flames or the closeness and fondness with Damon.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" I asked quietly, knowing perfectly well that he had no trouble hearing my question.

"Alaric's expecting to be finished with this by tomorrow evening, but it's hard to tell. Just promise me that you'll stay in the house until you hear from one of us?" I glanced upward at Damon, but from my position I still couldn't see his face. But I could have sworn that I had heard something akin to _nervousness_ in his voice.

"I promise, I'll stay here. What else would there be to do on a Saturday when all my friends are out killing vampires?" I teased, feeling more than hearing the chuckle that vibrated inside him.

"Damon," Alaric called from across the room. I knew that it was time for them to leave, but I didn't really want to let him go yet. I tightened my grip on the hem of his jeans pocket, pressing the side of my head a bit harder against his stomach. I must have seemed like a real child to him at that moment, clinging on hopelessly to a love I could not keep at my side.

"Yea," Damon only replied shortly. "Come on, I'm sure everyone's going to want to say their goodbyes," Damon muttered to me, his hand leaving my head to wrap around my waist and pulled me up from the chair, sliding my form up his body until I was leaning my head against his shoulder. God, sometimes it annoyed me to no end that he could just move me at his will. I let him walk me to the front entrance, all of the others standing out in the front by their vehicles as they packed their things inside. Damon detached himself from me to assist Bonnie reluctantly as Elena and Stefan walked up to me first.

"Please just stay inside, alright? Even if someone gets here, they can't come inside unless their invited, understand?" Elena asked, giving me a quick hug, but the short embrace was tight and worried.

"Yea, you be careful, I don't need another friend dying on me, hm?" Elena laughed at the twisted try for humour that I crashed and burned at. "You too Stefan, be careful." Stefan nodded in silence, offering a tight lipped smile before giving me a one armed hug. "Alright, you two best get going. I'll see you both safe and sound again." They departed quickly, moving over to Elena's van. Jeremy lingered beside the vehicle, looking downcast. A quick word from Elena and he began to trek over toward me.

"I promise to come back in one piece," He began, stopping in front of me. Because I was standing on the steps and he was on flat ground I was a bit taller than him. I laughed quietly at his greeting, opening my arms in offering. He accepted and I pulled him into a hug.

"Just come back, alright? Although, it would be preferred that you be in one piece!" Jeremy laughed quietly against my shoulder, patting my back twice before we pulled away. "And when you get back, you're going to tell me all about everything, right?"

"Yes ma'am." Pushing him in the direction of the van, I smiled as he made a mock salute and continued walking. This continued as everyone came up and offered their goodbyes, accepting my good-lucks. I refused to say goodbye, it made it sound like I was a worried mother sending her children off to a war, unlikely to return. Damon lingered to the side as everyone spoke with me in turns, giving us space. Caroline was the last to say her goodbyes and made a hasty retreat when Damon began to walk toward us. I chuckled quietly, shaking my head. The death glares that he had been sending her all evening had clearly affected her and made it clear that it was best she avoid the male vampire for a while.

"You should stop scaring her like that, you might kick start her heart again one of these days," I joked as he stepped up in front of me, watching Caroline climb into the back seat of Elena's van. "Well, I know I don't have to say this, but be careful, alright? Don't get cocky."

The smirk that came to his lips caused a huff to escape me, my shoulders dropping. I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder, not even making him move. Damon's hand wrapped around my wrist like a shackle, his eyes never leaving mine. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles that had been broken and shattered a day before, then proceeded to turn my hand over and kiss the inside of my palm. My heart began to beat faster inside my chest, my arm shaking slightly as he moved his hand from my wrist to tangle his fingers with my own. I couldn't pull my eyes away from our twined fingers.

"Come back to me," I said quietly, finally looking up into his azure eyes again, gripping his hand tighter. The places that he had kissed still tingled as I held onto his hand for all I was worth. "Promise that you'll come back, and bring everyone else back safely." My voice cracked as I spoke, his eyes seeming to soften at the sound. Before I knew that I was doing, I leaned forward and wrapped my free arm around him in a tight hug, hiding my face in his hair. Our hands freed and he returned the embrace faster than I had expected him to.

"Promise, I won't let the kid get himself killed."

I just stood holding him tightly, my arms wrapped around his neck so tightly it would probably have choked a human. The security of Damon's arms wrapped so strongly around me was amazing, and I never wanted to move from that safety. But he had to leave and I had to get back inside. Gently kissing the hair behind his ear, I pulled back quickly, releasing his neck to place my hands on his shoulders instead.

"I won't keep you waiting, you go have your fun. Tear a couple heads off for me."

Damon gently took hold of my chin and held me still as he kissed the corner of my lips gently, lingering for a moment, before he pulled away. Neither of us said anything further as I turned and walked up the rest of the steps to the front porch, walking straight inside the house and locking the large door behind me. I immediately rushed over to the windows in the next room and pushed the curtain aside, watching Damon as he took the last steps up to the truck he was driving in with Alaric and Stefan. He only looked back briefly as he was stepping up into the truck, his lips turning into a smirk as he caught me in the window. I smiled slightly and placed my hand on the glass, mouthing 'good luck'. The door closed and Damon disappeared behind the tinted glass.

I watched as the truck rolled out first, then Elena's van. Caroline and Bonnie rolled down their windows a bit to wave quickly before they were gone from my view. The glass of the window was cold against my hand as I remained staring at where they had once been. The silence of the house was nearly maddening, the only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock and the crackling of the fire in the other room.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled my hand away from the window and stepped back, the curtain falling closed once more. Turning my back to the window, I kept my stride sure I was walked into the drawing room of the Salvatore Boarding house, snatching the book that I had brought with me. It was about a fallen angel that was trying to become human and had to make the decision about killing the woman he loves to do so, or letting her live and remaining a fallen angel forever. I remember how Damon had given me a look that clearly showed he thought the whole idea was corny, but I liked the book and told him to bugger off.

Settling back into the chair in front of the fire with the book, I glanced up into the flames quickly, before I turned to the paperback in hand. Just as I hooked my finger into the pages that the bookmark was between, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. Letting out a sigh and sending a silent prayer that it wasn't my mother, I pulled the phone out and looked at the screen.

_Damon? Why would he be calling already?_

"Hey," I greeted, leaning back in the chair.

"_Let me guess, sitting in front of the fire with that terrible angel book of yours_?" Damon asked, his voice teasing. I looked around the room briefly, my brows drawing down.

"Creeper, are you hiding a camera in here or something?"

Damon roared with laughter on the other end of the call, causing my lips to twitch into a smile as my confused look relaxed away. "_No, you're just _that_ predictable._"

"Asshole."

"_You know you miss me._"

"_Damon, leave her alone,"_ Stefan said in the background, Alaric's chuckle following soon after.

"_Excuse me, Stefan, but can't you see that I'm on the phone?_" I outright laughed this time, the feeling making my heart feel lighter. "_Hm, I made her laugh, see?_"

"Oh, gosh, Damon, I love you," I said with a smile, still laughing slightly. I froze when I realized how that must have sounded, worried when the other end of the line went silent as well. All I could hear was the slight fuzz of what I could only guess to be wind from an open window. "Okay, well, I should let you guys get back to your own, I'll see you when you get back, bye." Quickly hitting the _End_ button, I placed a hand over my mouth as I dropped the phone onto the carpeted floor.

_Ah, crap._

Picking up my phone, I tossed the book on the chair and made my way up to Damon's room, just wanting to get changed and scatter out my study notes on his huge bed and cram for exams. I hope that I'm able to actually concentrate on said notes, otherwise it'll just be setting me up for a headache. I stopped in the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove so the water could boil for a tea as I was changing. Damon's room looked ominous in the dark without Damon there, although, he could often make it look even more frightening if he wanted to. Flipping on the dimmer sets of lights in the room, I pulled the bag I had from under the bed and began to rummage through clothes. Picking a pair of black kepis that hung on my hips and a tank top with a build in bra, with black short shorts underwear, I slipped into the bathroom after shoving my bag back under the bed.

I had just finished changing when I heard the kettle scream from downstairs, causing me to flinch. What a god awful sound that was. I'm sure Damon's ears would be bleeding had he been here. Tossing my binders and books onto the bed before I left, I ran down the cold wooden stairs and into the kitchen so I could take the screaming banshee off the stove.

I couldn't help the cold chill that ran up my spine at the silence of the house, the feeling causing a deep unrest in my stomach. Making my tea hastily, I snatching a dish if pre-cut apples, pears and orange slices from the fridge that Elena had bought for me as a snack. She had also forced me to get a small dish of chocolate mint ice-cream for my 'vampire withdrawal'. I nearly raced up to Damon's room, closing and locking the door behind me.

Placing the tea and fruit dish on the nightstand table, I leapt up onto the bed at the pillows and pulled my music books out. Pulling out my iPhone and headphones, I paused when I saw that I had received a text from Elena.

'_Hey, its Caroline. Stefan texted wht happened, u alright?'_

I laughed to myself, shaking my head, before I replied back.

'_oh, yea, never better...of course Im not ok!_'

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**Even though I didn't get 23 reviews for the last chapter, after _months_ of waiting, I'm going to update anyway because I really want to hear what you all think about the story and the wait is driving me insane. However, that exception will not be made again, so you'd better get to 24 reviews this time or we're all in for a _long wait._**


	25. They Will Fight Death For You

**They Will Fight Death For You**

An explosion of glass awoke me from a once deep sleep, my form flying up in Damon's bed as my heart kicked into overdrive. The sound had come from downstairs. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, next to the empty dishes, the blue numbers read 4:12 against the darkness. Jumping from the bed and running to the bathroom, I remembered to snatch my cell phone from the other nightstand before I locked myself inside the smaller room. Moving to hide inside the large shower, I felt my feet slip along the tile from my shower a couple of hours before. Bringing up my contacts, I hit Damon's name and sent a quick text.

'_They're here'_

Not even five seconds after I had sent the text to Damon, the bathroom door was thrown open, wood splinters flying as the lock broke away. I screamed against my will, hold my hands over my ears to the loud **bang** that resounded through the room in an echo. I looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway, her face contorted in anger and disgust.

"So you're the bitch that got Jackson killed? Pathetic," She spat out, stepping into the room. She called me pathetic? From here, it was easy to see that she wasn't even five and a half feet tall, she had blond hair and blue eyes, the typical bitchy type to me. She was wearing high-heeled boots and tight skinny jeans with a red tube top. Really? I was being attacked by a short fashion child?

My voice quivered against my will as I spoke up, "How did you get in here? You weren't invited-"

"I didn't come through the door," She said as though it were the easiest thing to understand and I was an idiot for not knowing. I opened my mouth to speak again, but before I could even make a sound, the glass door of the shower was shattering around me. I screaming again, ducking my head into my knees as I threw my arms over my head. I could feel the shards of glass cut into my exposed skin, some remaining lodged in my flesh. I whimpered quietly as the room went silent again, the only sound was the random tinkling of a piece of glass falling from what remained of the shower door.

My hair was grabbed roughly through my protective arms, pulling me up to my feet and forward. I screamed out in pain from the jolt that went straight to my brain as my hair was pulled, as well as the stabbing, burning pain of the glass cutting into my bare feet. I stumbled and fell onto my hands and knees, cutting my palm on a large shard of glass. I took hold of the glass instinctively, holding it as a dagger in my hand.

"Now, be a good little girl and do as I say and this'll be over quick," The blond said as she pulled me up again. As she did, I used the momentum to spin around and stab the sharp piece of glass into her chest on the left side, praying that I hit the heart. I didn't stick around to find out and quickly took off running, bolting through the destruction of Damon's bedroom, through the broken door and down the hallway. My feet slipped going around the corner toward the stairs from the blood that was oozing from the wounds, my body falling to the side as my feet slid out from under me. I tried to right myself quickly, but the pain from the glass in my feet was getting worse from running. I was just driving it in deeper.

I nearly fell twice more on the stairs, dropping my cell phone in the process. I didn't turn back to pick it up, instead bolting to where I remembered Damon told me where some weapons were hidden. But, I could have sworn I saw the cell making a phone call as I ran past it.

"You vile little bitch!" I heard the shrill scream from behind me moments before a tremendous pain shot up through my side. I cried out and stumbled forward, taking hold of the banister before I fell down the remaining steps. The pain of a sharp foreign object in my side left me gasping in pain, screaming as the blond twisted the piece of glass in my side, before she pulled it out, lifting it up to stab again. I released the banister and let myself fall, kicking out her feet in the process without even meaning to.

I could feel the stinging of tears in my eyes, my whole body was sore, burning and I was sure that I was leaving blood all along the house. I whimpered in pain as I held my side, beginning to pull myself up onto my knees. The cabinet a couple of yards away had a stash of wooden stakes in the bottom drawer. A heavy weight on my back pushed me to the floor again, before I was roughly rolled onto my back, a sharp pain jolting from my side at the movement.

"I was hoping for a quick little snack from a weak little girl, but now you're just digging your own grave," She hissed, her red shirt darkened at the top from the blood stain that I had caused when I stabbed her. "Your aim is terrible," She snapped, grabbing at the stab wound on my side. I wailed in pain, the tears beginning to escape from my eyes.

"Damon!"

"Damon!" She mimicked, squeezing the wound again, "Please come and save me!" Her voice rose in pitch as she mocked me, making me wish I could put a steak through her damn eye, put a nasty blemish to her pale face. "That's right hun, scream for your lover, let him hear you scream." I began to try and slip from her grasp, moving toward the cabinet again. I kicked and squirmed and slowly began to move, but she just laughed, thinking that I was trying to escape. "You still think you can get away from me? Your little lover boy still thinks that threat is outside the town, but here we are, hm?" I tried to buck her off of my hips, distracting her enough to slip my hand inside the drawer of the cabinet. I felt around and felt something sharp slice my finger. A dagger.

_Not a stake, but it still has the desired effect._

"Hm, you smell divine, Jackson told me as much. No wonder Damon keeps you around, a tasty little treat." Pulling the dagger from the drawer, I let my hand guide me as I drove the eight inch dagger into her right eye, earning a blood curdling scream from the woman. Kicking at her again, she fell to the side more easily this time, gripping at the dagger lodged through her head. I pulled myself up and took another dagger from the drawer as well as a bottle of vervain.

Stumbling to my feet, crying out in pain at the sharp jolts from the glass, I began to walk quickly through the kitchen, falling against the counter once. Hearing the woman scream again had my hand snatching a small paring knife from the knife holder on the counter. Pushing myself up again, I moved on blindly, trying to think of a place I could hide. But it was like I was leaving bright neon yellow arrows along the way because of the long blood trails on the floor and walls.

"That's it, I'm going to kill you slowly!"

The woman appeared before me a moment later, her face covered in blood with her eye squinted as it healed. Slashing out blindly with the other dagger, I caught her wrist and her side, pushing her back roughly. I hadn't realized that I was standing at the basement door before I watched her fall back into the darkness. I pulled the door closed as I heard her continue to fall down the stairs, taking off again after I had locked the door. Thank god the brothers liked their privacy; it would slow her down a bit at least. She was bound to be getting weaker because of all the healing she had to do.

I stopped a second to lean against the doorway to the drawing room, my heart pounding so fast in my chest it was like one long steady thrum instead of individual beats. I placed a hand on the wound at my side, flinching at the pain that I felt from the action. I looked back down the hallway I had come; seeing the long trail of smeared bloody footprints.

_Please, Damon, hurry._

The room spun before me, the only thing preventing me from falling was my death grip on the doorframe. The hard thump against the basement door caused me to jolt, whimpering as I pulled the wound in my side. Moving to step forward before she got out, I lost my balance, the small puddle of blood I had been creating as I stood causing me to slip forward. Dropping the paring knife but keeping a firm hold on the dagger, I watched as the bottle of vervain shattered before me, leaving a pooling of liquid before the blood I was leaving on the floor.

A harder thud against the door brought a heavy sense of dread to my stomach, leaving me feeling nauseous. On her third try, the lock gave away. I began to cry silently from where I lay, clutching at the dagger. But even at full strength, she could have taken the blade from me no problem. And that she did. The dagger was pulled from my hand a second before I was roughly rolled over, the woman's frighteningly deranged face leaning over mine.

"That is it! I've had it with you, you conniving little bitch!" Before I could even think to move and protect myself I felt the sharp, unbearable pain of the dagger stabbing through my chest cavity. I choked harshly on the air in my lungs, feeling the pain that it caused. She hadn't gone for my heart, but she had clearly hit a lung. She made a small sound of satisfaction, moving back to watch, also leaning into the pool of vervain.

_Please, just let me die already..._

It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to live. I struggled to move away from the fitting vampire as she tried to get the vervain off of her skin, swinging her arm around harshly as she roared out her anger and pain. I pushed myself into corner of the wall and doorframe, my hand moving to the dagger still lodged just beneath my left breast. I didn't dare try and pull it out, merely leaning back and tried to breathe without pain, taking careful inhales and slow exhales.

The woman's screams of rage and pain were cut off by a roar of such anger—such animalistic rage—that I jumped where I lay and looked up to see the cause of the noise. The woman did the same, only catching sight of her killer moments before her head was taken clean from her shoulders. I whimpered as the swirling of nausea returned as I heard the thud of her head hitting the floor and rolling, her body crumpling to the ground. Gentle hands soon touched my face, making me flinch back.

"Riley, baby, look at me."

_Damon?_

Looking up as I was bid, I looked straight into azure blue eyes surrounded by blood red. The demonic face had my mind reeling back to the last time I had seen it, just before he fed from me. I watched the rage disappear from his eyes, his face returning to a human state as he looked at me closely, his hand moving to the dagger.

"No," I whimpered, "Don't pull it out, please, no," I begged quietly, reaching out a hand to him. Damon took my bloody hand in his own, leaning forward until his forehead pressed mine.

"I have to take the knife out, Riley, so I can heal you," He explained in a calm voice, his hand holding onto mine tightly. I knew that even if I protested, he was going to take the damn thing out anyway, so I remained silent, nodding my head. I gripped his hand tighter as I felt him grip the handle of the dagger, giving one sharp tug that tore a scream from my good lung. Hot tears poured from my eyes I tasted a warm coppery liquid in my mouth, rising up my throat. "No, Riley!"

A cough broke though my chest, the warm liquid spilling forth from my lips. I could feel Damon's grip on my hand tighten as I coughed again, clearing my throat of blood as it ran past my lips and down my neck. Damon's lips suddenly caught mine, catching me by surprise. My eyes opened to see that his were closed, his face covered with small specks of my blood. My eyes widened when I felt blood rush from Damon's mouth into my own, probably from a wound he had given himself. I drank down the blood as best I could, hoping that I could take enough in before I was hit by another fit. When I began to feel a cough forming in my throat, I moved to pull back, but Damon placed a hand behind my head faster than I could move and held me still

The cough forced some of Damon's blood to spill past our lips, but Damon still held me tightly against him, forcing more and more of the crimson liquid down my throat with every passing second. The pain in my chest began to dull, as well as the burning from the stab in my side and the shards of glass in my hands and feet. My breathing became easier, evening out. Within minutes, my injuries were nearly fully healed and Damon finally pulled back. My body still shook from adrenaline, shock and fear as he held me tightly against him, only moving away to check how the major injuries were healing.

A sharp scream came from the front area of the house, followed by a short commotion. Moments later, I saw Stefan standing in the entrance to the room, looking at the remains of the blond for only a second before he rushed over to me and Damon. Alaric appeared a couple of second later, out of breath and pale. We must have been a sight to see, our faces smeared with mixed blood, out clothes drenched in the red liquid.

"Is she-"

"She's fine," Stefan answered, crouching down beside me and Damon. He looked down at the tears in my shirt, looking to Damon in silent question. The brother merely nodded his head, Stefan needed only that as he rose to his feet.

"Alaric, go tell the others that she's alright." My history teacher lingered in the doorway a moment more, his eyes roaming over the large amount of blood pooled on the floor and covering both me and Damon, before he rushed off to relay the news. "We'll take care of the clean up down here, you should get Riley upstairs."

"Your..." I began, taking a breath when I realized how hard it was, "She...destroyed...the...room," I muttered, feeling my chest tighten. A strange sensation itched my throat, one that I knew very well, and I pushed myself from Damon, rolling to the side in time to throw up crimson blood onto the floor. Two sets of hands held me up as I trembled, my body tensing as another heave of blood spilled onto the floor. My lungs and throat burned as I coughed, spitting the red from my mouth. My whole body was shaking and I felt like I was on fire, my breathing raged and uneven.

"She had a punctured lung, that was her body's way of removing the blood," Damon mumbled to Stefan, carefully picking me up again. I didn't even have the energy to keep my arms up, instead, I just left them limp as one hung down past my side, the other lying lazily on my stomach.

"Use my bathroom," Stefan said quietly, his voice sounding distant. I felt the vibrations in Damon's chest as he replied, but I was so far gone I didn't even hear what he said. When I finally passed out, it was a welcomed darkness.

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**I'm really looking forward to getting feedback on this chapter! **

**To an anonymous reviewer named _Leo, _I understand where you're coming from when you say that it's not fair to say I won't update without reviews, but I know for a fact that there are _a lot_ of people reading this story, but they just don't take the time to write a five second review. This is the only story that I am doing it for and it's not because I want a lot of reviews, it is so that I have a certain amount of time to write a chapter and don't start slacking off. It is meant for my own punctuality, not for the quantity of reviews. Now, I thank you for your review and I will try to watch out for what tense I use more closely from now on.**

**25 Reviews please!**


	26. They Won't Be Prepared

**They Won't Be Prepared**

Stefan's bathroom was far more different than Damon's; Stefan's was a lot...less modernized. Damon crouched before the white tub that I had been placed in, the warm water having been drained twice already from the amount of blood that came off of me. Damon was still soaked in the red and refused to leave until he was sure that I was alright. There were still minor wounds from the two stabs I had received, the cuts from the glass already healed. It had hurt like hell when the vampire blood had pushed out all of the glass from inside my skin.

Damon shifted beside me, moving to sit on the floor with his back to me, his head bowed slightly. I watched him carefully for a moment before I reached a hand out to him slowly, my muscles protesting the action. I was glad that my hand was dry from just sitting on the rim of the tub so I wasn't touching him with bloody water. Pushing my hand into his hair, I slowly began to stoke my fingers through the dark, blood matted locks.

"Thank you for saving me, again."

Damon remained silent, unmoving. Pulling myself up, I continued running my hand through his hair, wrapping my other arm that was dripping wet around his chest as I laid my head against his. I smiled softly when one of his hands took my wet one in his, his skin sliding along mine. I wasn't going to say some cliché thing like 'this is the Damon that I love, the gentle Damon' or 'this is the Damon that I fell in love with'. No, I fell in love with all of him, his dark secrets, his dangerous attitude and actions, his small gentle side that shown through every once and a while. It was all of Damon Salvatore that I fell in love with.

"I love you," I whispered into his hair, the soft strands tickling my lips as I spoke. He seemed to sit up straighter this time, his hand just barely grasping my own more tightly. Shifting around again, I placed my other hand over his where his heart had once beat and kissed beneath his ear gently. "I love you, Damon Salvatore."

The room remained silent for a very uncomfortable amount of time, making me begin to regret even telling him that at all. "You called out for me," He finally said, his voice tight. "Why?"

I pulled back in confusion, leaning to the side to try and get a look at him. "How...how did you know I called out for you?" I asked quietly, trying to see his face. Damon turned to look at me and the look of utter fatigue on his face made my heart ache.

"Your phone called the last contact used, I heard you over the phone."

"_Damon!"_

"_Damon!" She mimicked, squeezing the wound again, "Please come and save me!" Her voice rose in pitch as she mocked me..._

"Damon," I urged quietly, "Come and join me." Tugging on his shirt, I encouraged him to move. I reached around his shoulders to begin unbuttoning his dark shirt, pleased when he didn't stop my movements. I was nervous about him rejecting me, my stomach tightening as my heart sped up. As soon as I was finished unbuttoning his shirt, I pulled it back off his shoulders, exposing his red stained skin. Assisting with removing his pants, boots and socks, Damon was soon sitting on the edge of the tub in nothing more than his boxers.

I reclined back against the porcelain tub, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I relaxed back into the water and waited calmly, keeping my legs drawn up to my chest. A gentle nudge on my should had me moving up slightly, feeling Damon slide into the water behind me. I leaned back again once he had gone still, resting on his chest as his legs caged in my sides.

A tickling in my chest caused me to lean forward as a coughing fit enveloped me, burning my already sore throat. Damon's hand splayed out on my back, his long fingers spreading over my shoulder blades. I closed my eyes against the harsh coughs, my hand covering my mouth as I tried to muffle the sound. As the couching ceased, I became very aware of a warm liquid on my hand.

Pulling my hand away, I opened my eyes to see blood covering my palm and fingers. I made a small choking sound of discomfort, submerging my hand in the bathwater. Damon's hand moved around from my back, circling my waist until I was trapped against his chest once more, his hand placed over the stab to my lung just below my breast.

"You're body'll be trying to dislodge the blood from your lungs for a couple of days," He explained quietly, his head moving to rest on mine. I leaned back more heavily, letting his arm prevent me from sliding into the pink water.

"Sorry you had to see me...earlier, when I-" My cheeks flamed in embarrassment as I thought back, remembering how I had pushed Damon away before throwing up blood all over the floor. It wasn't something that I would have wanted anyone to see, just the thought of what the brothers might have thought made me want to hide away.

"I would rather be forced to bear witness to that than to have you die."

I sat still for a moment, just letting Damon hold me, before I rolled my body so that I was lying stomach to stomach with him, my face buried in the crook of his neck. I lifted a hand to his chest, gently running it along his skin as the water began to wash away the crusted blood. We just laid there, Damon's hand stroking along my spine as I washed my blood off of his body.

I stayed with Elena in Stefan's room while Damon went to help the others clean up the house, starting with his room. My clothes hadn't gotten damaged so I lay with Elena in a clean set of shorts and a tank top, one of Damon's black dress shirts done halfway over top of that. Elena had relayed what had been happening up until the text I had sent.

"Alaric had known something was off when the vampires we were fighting against all seemed...weak, compared to what would be expected. When Damon got that text from you he tried to run back, but there was still some of the stronger vampires there and they were able to slow him down." I nodded my head in understanding, my fingers sliding along the silk black of Damon's shirt.

"Did...did you all hear the phone call?" I asked quietly, looking over to her. Elena's face looked pained, distraught. Clearly she had heard the phone call, or at least enough of it.

"He thought that it might be you, so he answered the call, but when you didn't reply back he was about to hang up when you screamed," She paused in her explanation, looking thoughtful. I shifted on the bed so that I was propped up against the headboard next to her, watching her face. She had some bruises on her neck from the fight, but Stefan had kept her safe throughout most of it.

"What?" I encouraged gently.

Her brown eyes met mine as she looked at me with a dead serious look. "When you screamed his name, and he heard that woman's voice, I've never seen him looked so-" She cut off, searching through her mind for the right word. "So monstrous," she finished. She took my hand in her own and turned to face me more fully. "I know that Damon might not seem the type to care, but when you called out for him like that, I swear something snapped. He tore through Jackson's family like they were nothing. He was gone before we could move!"

I sat still, trying to image Damon so angry. It wasn't hard; the way he looked probably wasn't too far off when I had seen him rip that bitch's head off her shoulders. I squeezed Elena's hand tightly in my own as I remembered his eyes, crazy and dangerous, his lips pulled back to show his fangs. His roar of outrage echoed in my mind, causing my body to shake.

"Riley, are you afraid of him?" Elena asked. It was just like the time he had tried to scare me in the car and she had asked me if I was afraid of him. I answered the same this time as I had before, I wasn't afraid of Damon.

"I'm not afraid of Damon himself, I'm not even that afraid of his past, but I don't want to lose him," I confessed, my eyes prickling with tears. Elena looked confused at my words, waiting for me to continue. "I told him I loved him, I actually said 'I love you' and he didn't to a thing, he didn't reply, didn't look at me, didn't even move. Nothing." The tears I had been trying to hold back escaped as I blinked, dripped off my cheek bones and falling onto the dark material of Damon's dress shirt.

"Oh Riley," Elena mumbled, moving to wrap her arms around me. I let her pull me into a hug, wrapping my arms around her torso as more tears fell. She stroked my back gently, making quiet _shh_ sounds in my ear.

"I don't want to lose him, Elena, but I don't think he wants to keep me around," I gasped out, my hands fisting in her shirt. A hiccup escaped me, the taste of copper entering my mouth. I swallowed it back down, not wanting Elena to know about the blood.

"Riley, look at me," Elena encouraged as she gently pushed me back, her hands moving to gently grip my upper arms. "Damon isn't like anyone else you will ever meet, to try and understand him will only set you up for the words biggest migraine!" I choked on a laugh as I nodded in agreement. I gave up on trying to understand why he does what he does a while ago. "Damon may not come right out and admit that he loves you, or even cares for you, probably because he doesn't quite know how, but he does show it in discrete ways. Like how he acted when he heard you over that call, maybe not so discrete when you think about it, but do you think that he would act that way if he didn't at least care for you?"

I wanted to be able to think that, that in his ways he does show that he cares, but I can't even tell if that's true. Stefan had said many times that Damon always had an ulterior motive to everything that he did, and I'm not sure if that applies to this situation or not. I don't want to believe that what the woman had said about only keeping me for a snack to be true, but it's hard to tell when he's so closed off.

"I don't know what to do anymore," I huffed, falling against the pillows as Elena released my arms. She gently stroked a hand through my hair as she tried her best to help.

"I can't imagine what you're going through, Riley, but I know it's hard. Katherine had been an ever present issue with Stefan and I once I had found out about her, but we were able to pass through that." I shook my head gently, gripping Damon's shirt tightly in my hands.

"But Stefan's pretty much Damon's opposite in almost every way," I countered, looking at the picture that Stefan had next to his bed of the two of them. "Besides, what are we going to do when we keep aging and they remain like this forever?" I asked quietly, closing my eyes. Elena's hand stilled on my hair and I knew that I had picked on something that she herself had been thinking about. That was something that I could relate to Elena very strongly with, and Matt as well, apparently, we were all dating an eternal being.

Stepping into Damon's room later that evening, looking around at the neatly arranged furniture, I was shocked to see that it looked like nothing had happened to it. The door had been repaired, although there wasn't a door to the bathroom anymore, and the mess had been cleared away. It didn't even look like there had been any kind of trouble in this room; it looked like something straight from a magazine. As always.

"Did Elena let you get away?" I looked up to the bathroom, seeing Damon walked out with a cardboard box in one hand. I briefly wondered what was inside before I heard sliding glass inside as the box tipped slightly to the side. He placed the box down beside the large desk near the window and looked over to me again.

"She thought I was asleep and left, to go help the others I'm guessing." Stepping into the room, I looked around again, still shocked. "How do you manage to always surprise me at the things you can do?" I asked quietly, nudging the box of glass with my foot for emphasis. Damon chuckled deeply, wrapping an arm around my shoulder as he smirked.

"I'm perfect, don't you know?"

"Asshole," I replied, hitting him in the stomach again before I leaned forward against his chest, wrapping my arms around his torso. "Although, in this case you're right. It doesn't even look like something happened in here, just like you remodelled." Damon hummed to himself quietly, probably amused but the fact that I had actually agreed with him about something so...cocky. "You know," I muttered quietly, taking a deep breath for strength, "You missed my birthday before we starting dating."

"Oh?"

"Mhm," I answered quietly, holding onto him more tightly. "You know what I want from you as a present?" Damon's chuckle shook his chest, vibrating against my cheek. I smiled softly, sadly.

"Do tell."

"I want you to turn me into a vampire."

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**I was to relieved when I finally got that last review! I've been waiting so long to update this story. It's great to hear that everyone loved the last chapter, I had been worrying that I had overdone it too much. Well, you all know the drill!**

**26 more reviews and there's going to be _another _chapter. Almost at 30.**


	27. They Will Be Your Suicide

**They Will Be Your Suicide**

The look on Damon's face was almost fearful, but I had come to understand that he wouldn't intentionally hurt me. At least, I had never pissed him off quite enough for him to show his anger this much. The grip that he had on my arms was almost bruising and I couldn't stop the hiss of pain that passed my lips as I tried to pull away from him. But he wouldn't ease his hold and continued to look at me with furious icy blue eyes.

"Are you crazy?" He nearly shouted as he gave one rough shake. My head snapped backward from the speed of his movement. The world spun for a moment before I was able to focus on those eyes again. "Why do you want...what's wrong with you? Why on Earth would you want to be like me?" He growled out, shaking me again, but without the same force as before.

"I already told you why!" I yelled back in his face. "You act like you're so smart for being around for over one hundred years but you sure can act like a complete dumbass at times!" I tried to push against his stomach to get him to release me, but he only ended up slamming me against the wall beside the bathroom door in response to my actions.

"Stop!" He yelled, his voice freezing me in my struggles against him, my heart nearly stopping. The command brought back when he had yelled at me to calm down when I was screaming at him about Caroline being a vampire. "I have to kill people to live, Riley. Stefan can feed off of animals but he's weak because of it. You would have to kill people-"

"No! You don't think I haven't been noticing things?" I snapped back, wanting to smack him. I wasn't stupid, I had been living with him for nearly a week and had spent plenty of time here before that and he still doesn't think that I know what goes on? "I've seen the blood packs, Damon, from the hospital. I know that you don't kill people anymore."

"Oh, you know?" He asked angrily, pushed me back against the wall roughly again. My feet left the floor for a moment before he release me altogether, backing away. His hands began to run through his hair, gripping at the strands as he paced the length of his large room. "You don't know anything, Riley, you don't know me and you don't know my kind."

"Like hell I don't," I snapped back, pushing away from the wall. "I've seen you, Damon, you've fed from me and I've seen that side of you. I know that it'll be hard to live with at first but I still want this." Walking forward to him again, he whipped around and grabbed hold of my arm, tugging me up against him so that my face was only two inches from his. The whites of his eyes had turned blood red and the veins were beginning to stand out on his skin. His fangs were bared to me in a threatening gesture, but I didn't move away, I didn't pull my eyes from his face. "You don't scare me, Damon. I'm not afraid of you."

I was pushed away again, Damon disappearing from my sights. I looked around the room, but he wasn't inside. Walking to the bathroom, it was empty as well. Letting out a sigh, I leaned against the bathroom doorframe, shaking my head. How could I have been so foolish to think that he was actually going to want me at his side for eternity? Looking over to where my bag sat, I began to wonder. Should I stay with him _now_ if there wouldn't be a chance of _later_ with us?

Moving toward the bag, I paused when I felt a light tug on my ankle. My anklet? Twisting to look down at my left ankle, I left my blood run cold as I looked down into the face of a stranger, a long scar running down the right side of his face. A knife in his hand was an inch away from my foot, the remains of my anklet lay on the floor after he had cut it. Opening my mouth to scream, I spun around to run. A hand clamped over my mouth as I ran into a solid form, the man blocking my path as he looked into my eyes.

"Don't scream," He ordered. I watched as his pupils dilated, his chocolate eyes becoming a light hazel. He pulled his hand away from my mouth and backed away, holding up the knife in warning. "Don't move."

I stood silent, frozen, as I watched him looked over his shoulder toward the door. I could hear a sharp yell come from down stairs, making my heart begin to beat faster. Not again, this had just ended and now I was being put through all of this _again?_

"Now," The man continued, tossing the knife just underneath the bed. "I want you to go and take a piece of glass from that box," He instructed, watching as I was forced to do as he bid. I opened the box beside Damon's bed, looking at the pieces. "A nice big one, that can make a good weapon." Selecting a long, narrow shard of glass, I stood up again. "When I tell you to, you're going to stab yourself through the heart."

**~Damon~**

I slowly made my way down the stairs, my mind reeling over what Riley had requested. Was she insane? I just saved her life and now she wants me to kill her? I stooped a moment, feeling my jaw clench hard enough for it to crack suddenly. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed slightly. But only for a moment.

"Damon, get in here." The seriousness in Stefan's voice had me running to the library, stopping just inside the door when I saw Bonnie with a vampire holding a knife to her throat. I could feel my blood boil as I recognized the stench of that woman on him. All I could see was that Bitch as she tried to kill Riley, there was no Bonnie or the new stranger. My anger was all I could feel as I glared and tensed in preparation of a fight.

"Ah, the man of the hour, welcome," The male mocked, adjusting the knife over the artery in Bonnie's neck. She gasped quietly as she tried to turn her head to get away from the blade, but he held her hair to keep her in place. Riley. I had to get back to Riley.

"What exactly do you think that you can do with a room full of vampire's and vampire hunters, all of which are against you?" Elena asked harshly, Stefan standing in front of her protectively. The man gave a large, predatory smirk, seemingly so pleased that she had asked that question.

"Oh, the things I could do," He began, pressing his cheek against Bonnie, his eyes meeting Elena's. This was pointless, Riley was upstairs defenceless and we were all down hear wasting our time with this jackass? "But, alas, I was only told to do one thing."

"And what's that?" That distorted smile he wore grew as he looked over to Stefan then, his dark eyes speaking of insane things. My legs itched to run upstairs, but I knew that I would get ripped into if Bonnie got injured.

"Stall."

"Riley!"

I looked over to the door, feeling the presence of the man behind me now. Damon and Stefan appeared just inside the room, both freezing when they saw me standing with the long piece of glass. The man behind me chuckled quietly, moving my arm for me as he adjusted me until I was holding the piece of glass right over my rapidly beating heart.

"Pleased to see that you could make it, Damon. I have a wonderful surprise for you-"

I was suddenly pushed violently to the side, the piece of glass knocked from my hand to fall to the floor, breaking into three different pieces. I rolled a couple of times to be stopped by one of the bed posts. Adjusting myself, I moved to pick myself up from the floor when the sight of the knife that the man had tossed made me stop. _'When I tell you to, you're going to stab yourself through the heart.'_

Reaching for the knife, I grasped the cold handle tightly and pulled it toward me, rising up to my feet. Stefan stood between me and the man, Damon holding him to the floor by his throat. I looked down to the knife, feeling the pull of my muscles as they bid me to do as I was told. I tried to fight it, tried to stop myself from doing as he said, but it was like fighting against a tidal wave.

"What the hell are you playing at here?" Damon growled, tightening his grip on the man's throat.

"I'm only here because that bitch failed to kill a simple human. Blood for blood, Damon. My brother was killed because of you, only because he was getting revenge for what you had already done to him!" The man yelled up into Damon's face, not even bothering to struggle, there was no need. He wasn't going to raise a hand to me, he knew that, and I knew that. But the brothers weren't as aware.

Stefan had his back to me, he couldn't see as I turned the knife to point the blade toward myself, raising it to above my heart, the same place that the glass piece had been. I waited; my body stiff and still, my heart hammering in my chest as my mind screamed out for freedom. Damon slammed the man down into the floor harshly out of anger, the boards cracking from the force. If I had been in control of myself, I would have flinched. _'Don't move.'_

The cold feel of the blade's tip against my skin nearly caused me to cry as I continued to watch Damon hurt the man, Stefan trying to tell him to stop. Neither looked over to me once, neither moved to check that I hadn't been hurt when I was pushed away from the man, and it made my heart ache. And I waited. I waited for my death at the hands of myself, waited for the command of suicide as I stood in silence. Agony rippled through my in waves as I watched the man I love take no notice to the danger across the room.

"You're a fool, Salvatore. A foolish man with a foolish love," the vampire laughed, blood dripping from a split lip that was soon to heal. "Ah, I'll enjoy the afterlife after this afterlife, because I will know that I went happily. Will you Damon? Will you truly _die_ happily? What about your woman?"

My throat felt as dry as sandpaper and my muscles were seized painfully as I held the knife to my chest. I would have trembled, I would have cried, I would have screamed and thrown the knife away from me as hard as I could if only I could _move_. I wished I could just drop the knife and tell Damon to end it, let him be the one to kill me instead. I didn't care how sadistic it sounded, I wanted Damon to be the one to kill me and make me into his own kind. The only thought that could bring any kind of _calm_ or _warmth_ to me was the knowledge that it would be Damon's blood that changed me in the end.

I wonder what had caused Damon to change, other than Katherine. Had she been the one to give him the human blood after he had died? Had he sought the blood out for himself so that he could be strong, immortal, _eternal?_ I closed my eyes for a brief moment, one of the few actions that I did have control over, and felt the familiar sting of tears as they fought to fall.

"What about her?" Damon growled back.

I opened my eyes to watch as the vampire looked over to me, his distorted face torn and ruined, the scar ever present from the masses of blood that Damon had drawn.

"Will she? Will you, Riley? Will you _die_ happily?"

I blinked once, a single tear slipping past and down my cheek as I drove the blade forward. Damon and Stefan both turned to face me at blinding speed, yelled out for me to stop. But I couldn't and didn't, the silver knife sliding into my skin far too easily. I could feel the pain blossom in my chest as the blade tore into my heart. Warm blood spilled over my chest as I felt a set of hands take hold of my arms, my knees giving away beneath me. I could feel as the tear dripped off my chin, falling onto my wrist. Warmth bloomed through me, the pain ebbing away into pleasurable numbness.

I could see him standing over me, his hands still clutching my own as he called out. But I couldn't understand him, and soon the clear image of his cobalt blue eyes blurred away. His strong hands continued to hold my own, before a sudden, small warmth touched my cheek, sliding down and into my hair.

_I'm ready to die; because, with this unbeating heart, I love you, Damon Salvatore._

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**It took_ forever _to get all of the reviews that I needed, my god! It's great to finally update though, I'm excited to hear from you all about what you think of on this chapter. Don't hate me! This isn't the end! Please review, you all know the drill!**


	28. They Won't Disappoint

**They Won't Disappoint**

_Do not stand at my grave and weep_

_I am not there, I do not sleep._

_I am in a thousand winds that blow,_

_I am the softly falling snow._

_I am the gentle showers of rain,_

_I am the fields of ripening grain._

_I am in the morning hush,_

_I am in the graceful rush_

_Of circling birds in circling flight,_

_I am the starshine of the night._

_I am in the flowers that bloom,_

_I am in a quiet room._

_I am in the birds that sing,_

_I am in each lovely thing._

_Do not stand at my grave and cry,_

_I am not there, I did not die._

Darkness, black as night, cool and calming. No sound to wake me, no noise to disturb me. Blissful darkness to allow me rest and solitude. There was no pain within the darkness, but there was no light either. There was no happiness inside the darkness, because there was no one to share it with. It was a lonely place, that—at some point—someone may enjoy on their own, but I didn't want to be alone right now. I wanted my family and friends to be with me, I wanted to have those that were in my heart at my side.

I didn't want to be alone in the darkness forever. I was _afraid_ to be alone in the darkness forever.

A sudden, sweet aroma filled my senses, causing me to inhale deeply, before the darkness shattered. Light penetrated my gaze as I opened my eyes, warmth covering my body as I searched for the source of the sweet aroma. I felt no pain, no fatigue, just...light. The surroundings I didn't recognize, leaving me to just stare at the stone wall across from where I lay. The sweet smell still hung heavily in the room, teasing me.

Blinking carefully, I tried to think about where I was. I had been with Damon, we had argued about me becoming a vampire right after I had nearly died. Damon stormed out, and I was alone. But then...there was that man. And he...what did he make me do?

_When I tell you to, you're going to stab yourself through the heart._

My whole body tensed as the pain came rushing back, the memory of the knife digging into my heart. I closed my eyes and tried to take a deep breath, I tried to calm myself, but instead, I began to shake as my eyes pricked with tears. He hadn't even looked to see if I was safe, but he held me as I died. I love him so much, but what do I do now, when he didn't even want me to become a vampire in the first place. A sob shook my back as my chest tightened, my hands rising to my face to hide my eyes as the tears slipped free.

The sound of a door opening close by caused me to jump, looking over in time to see Damon step into the small room, my vision was blurred with the salty water of my tears as I looked at him. His face held no emotion as he looked at me, before the door suddenly closed behind him, locking once more. The sweet smell from earlier intensified, making me inhale deeply. It was coming from him. Blood covered his bare chest, smeared from his shirt being removed. I nearly gagged when my instincts urged me to lick the blood off, my own blood. Holding my breath to stop the smell from reaching my brain again, I looked to Damon more closely.

He looked...torn.

One thought in my mind overrode all of the others as I looked at him, the blood on his skin and the lack of emotion on his face. I was dead, and he had held me. He had held me and probably pulled the blade from my heart. But he didn't want me dead, he didn't want me to be like him. He wanted me human and alive, but now I didn't have a chance to be either. I would either die completely, or become an undead vampire.

_But he had held me._

Sitting up in the uncomfortable cot, I looked down at myself carefully. My shirt had been changed, now wearing nothing but one of Damon's black tee's and the shorts that I had changed into originally. The blood from my chest had been cleaned; I couldn't see or smell any of it on my skin. As I thought about the blade that had once been struck through my heart, I couldn't stop the sob that shook my frame as I hid my face from Damon.

Before long, I felt his hands take hold of my face, lifting my gaze to his. His clear blue eyes showed his pain, the gentleness of his touch proving that he did have a heart. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as my chest constricted, another sob passing my lips. Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around his chest as held onto him tightly, feeling his arms encircle my shoulders as well.

_I'm dead._

It hurt more than I had thought that it would. I had thought that I was ready to die, that if it were for Damon then I would be able to do so easily. But the memory of my own death was hard to handle, and the thought of what I must have put everyone else through filled me with guilt. This was what I had wanted, but it was still so hard to accept.

"Don't leave," I gasped out finally, my bare hands gripping at his back as I tried to pull him closer to me. More tears stung my eyes, sliding down my cheeks in trails. "I can't-I don't know-" I struggled to get the sentence out, sobs and hiccups cutting off my words. Damon shushed me suddenly, surprising me enough to stop talking, a hiccup making my chest jump. Damon's hand found my hair and gently began to run through the tangled strands. "Please, don't leave me!" I cried out, my nails digging into Damon's back.

"What makes you think I'll leave you?" Damon finally asked quietly, his words rumbling in his chest. I tried to breathe properly, to calm down, as I thought of his words. Did that mean that he didn't want me to leave, or to leave me from what I've become? I opened my mouth to speak again, but Damon took my face in his hands gently, forcing me to look him in the eye. I could feel some of the blood from Damon's chest had stuck to my cheek, but paid it no mind as I looked at him wearily.

"But I'm dead," I choked out, my words muffled from Damon's hold on my jaw.

"And that'll drive me away? You do remembered that _I'm dead too_?" He asked quietly, his thumbs stroking the tears away from beneath my eyes. I tried to speak again, but he took a firmer hold of my skull, he bright blue eyes boring into mine. "I won't leave you," He said slowly, like he needed me to register the words before he could speak again. "But you need to be sure that you're ready to be like me."

"I am-"

"You need to know everything, Riley. You need to know the hunger that you're going to feel every moment of every day, you need to know the danger of living in a town with a vampire hunting council." He went silent then, just watching me, waiting for me to show some signs that I was ready. I finally nodded my head against the hands that held me, allowing Damon's dangerously tense posture to relax.

Damon suddenly swiped his thumb across my cheek before holding it beneath my nose, the sweet coppery smell of my own blood invading my senses. I swiftly turned my head away, holding my breath as my hands lifted to cover my nose and mouth.

"You have to be sure that you can take this, Riley. The need that will _always _be there; the need to feed, to kill. It won't go away, you can't control it, but you can try and manage it. Are you up for that?" I tried to focus on what he was saying, I tried to manage my thoughts and think about what he was telling me and not about the smell of my human blood on his skin.

"Get away," I gasped out, feeling tears begin to prick at my eyes again. "Please, I don't want to hurt you." I closed my eyes, not wanting to see how he reacted to my words. "I want to be able to stay with you Damon, and if that means having to brave through the constant want for blood, I'll do it." I heard Damon move away, but I remained still. He only stepped over toward the door, before he began to approach me again.

"Drink this." Looking up to him, I saw that he was holding a water bottle, half filled with red liquid. Reaching out to take the bottle, I damned the shaking of my hand before my fingers curled around the plastic. The weight of the bottle brought a thought of realisation to me, that this was actually happening. Damon stepped back again, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back against the thick door, his eyes on me.

"I don't want to hurt you, Damon," I repeated, "If I'm really going to crave blood as much as you say, then you shouldn't stay here." My voice cracked over my words, the blood sloshing inside the bottle as my hands shook with the force I had to use to restrain from drinking it right away.

"I'm staying, so stop arguing and drink," Damon said calmly, but his eyes were intense with emotion. Holding those blue eyes a moment more, I took a deep breath—the smell of the blood wafting through my senses—and twisted the cap of the bottle in my hands. The moment I opened the bottle, the heady scent intensified tenfold, throwing all other thoughts from my mind.

Dropping the cap to the floor carelessly, I brought the rim of the bottle to my lips and leant my head back, the cool feel of the blood hitting my lips before pouring onto my tongue. That one small taste was all it took before I began to gulp down the liquid in a rush, my hand tightening on the bottle. The snapping sounds of the plastic crushing in my fingers didn't deter me from tipping my head back further to try and get more.

My whole body was abuzz, almost like the high of an adrenaline rush. It was exhilarating, something I never could have imagined. Was this what it felt like when humans did drugs?

The bottle cracked again as my hands closed the rest of the way, and no more blood came from the bottle. Dropping the empty and stained water bottle to the ground beside the cap, covered my mouth with my hand, taking in a deep breath of air that I had been deprived from through my nose. I could still smell the blood, but I knew that I wasn't going to get any more from the bottle that Damon had given me.

Looking up at the thought of the dark haired vampire, I could see that he was watching me closely, gauging my reaction. The red stains of blood on his chest causing my gut to tighten, the urge to jump him making my leg muscles twitch.

_No, it's my own blood._

Locking my jaw closed, I looked up to Damon's face, seeing his bright blue eyes watching me. My muscles twitched again, and I forced myself to think differently. I was hungry, but I had to hold back. Damon says it can't be controlled, but I'll be damned if I let that be true. I _will_ control this impulse; I _won't_ hurt the ones that I love because I want to eat them. Pushing the hunger back into my mind as far as I could, I let my eyes wander down to Damon's lips, seeing them set into a fine line of seriousness.

The sounds of footsteps overhead told me that the heightened senses were kicking in, telling me that I was 'coming back to life'. The dark shadows of the room brightening slightly, allowing me to see everything that hid away from the light inside the small cellar I was trapped in for god knows how long. It was strange, feeling so...different, but still in the same mind as before. Looking over Damon once more, I made sure to think over the red that covered his chest, and instead found myself focusing on the shadows caused by the various dips and curves of his abs.

Tilting my head to the side slightly, I admired the definition he had, that I hadn't really taken the time to fully admire. The gorgeous V of his hips had a small dusting of dark hair that made a center trail of leading from his navel downward, to disappear beneath his jeans. Looking up to his face again, my body trembled involuntarily at the sight of the smirk that adorned his face, those intense blue eyes leisurely seductive now.

_Who says imprisonment can't be enjoyed?_

Running up to Damon faster than even I could have imaged I would, my hands slammed against the door on either side of him as I tilted my head up to look up the few inches that separated our height, and into his eyes once more. That smirk had darkened on his face and I felt that same tightening in my gut at the thoughts it stirred inside my mind. Lifting one hand from the door, I raised it up to grasp a fistful of dark silky strands of Damon's hair and pulled him down toward me and into a harsh and passion filled kiss. His arms uncrossed from before his chest and wound themselves around my waist, pulling me up further, melding my body to his. I was forced to rise onto my toes, nearly evening out height.

With an ease that shocked my muffled mind, Damon spun us around and slammed my back against the stone wall beside the door. The hit didn't hurt as much as I would have anticipated and found myself smirking into the kiss. One of the arms wrapped around my waist soon lowered, long fingers dipping under my thigh and lifting it up to hook my knee on his hip bone.

"Behave," I mumbled against his lips, dragging my nails down the left side of his chest. He groaned quietly as his grip on my thigh tightened, his body pressing me more firmly into the wall.

"Give me one good reason to," Damon growled out, his free hand snaking down to my other thigh and hoisting me completely off my feet. Gasping in surprise when my back slid up the wall from the sudden increase in my height, I couldn't stop myself from smirking devilishly down at Damon, hooking my ankles behind his waist to keep myself up, though his hands still remained under my legs for added support.

"Hm, you know...nothing's coming to mind," I whispered slyly, leaning down until my lips ghosted his, before I dipped down and nipped sharply on his jaw line. One of Damon's hands freed itself from my legs, taking hold of my jaw and gently guiding me to look in him the eyes once more. The pure lust and possessiveness that sharpened his gaze made me tremble against him, a pleased moan of contentment vibrating my chest when he firmly claimed my lips in a hungry kiss, forcing me to move with him in a fast paced and passionate rhythm. The sheer intensity of raw lust gripped me tightly in a deadly grasp, forcing me to clutch at Damon's arms, hair and throat as I tried to move myself against him, tried to draw more _reaction _and _pleasure._

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**I didn't get the desired amount of reviews that I wanted for the previous chapter, but I just couldn't stop myself from updating anyway. It's been forever! I would always check to see if more people reviewed and when I saw there weren't any it was heartbreaking because I _really_ wanted to update. I know I surprised quite a few people with the last chapter and it must have been a torture for the people who were _kind enough_ to review so that there would be an update sooner. Be glad I'm taking pity on them because for everyone else who just think 'eh, someone else will review', I would have kept waiting!**_  
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	29. They Will Forever Remain

**They Will Forever Remain**

The cot like bed groaned under the pressure of Damon pressing me down, his hands pushing his black shirt up my sides to expose my stomach. I jumped slightly when he nipped sharply at my neck, growling when I raked my nails down his back in response. Turning my face into his neck, I smiled at the pleasant feeling of his hair tickling my cheek, his unique scent surrounding me.

My legs hooked his hips still, my heels pressing into the backs of his thighs to draw myself closer to him. Using his body, Damon pressed me more firmly into the mattress, his hands ghosting the bottom sides of my breasts as he continued to hike up the shirt he had given me. Pressing my face into his neck, I inhaled his scent more deeply and once more smelt that sweet aroma of blood. But this time…it was his. Unable to draw away, I pulled Damon closer as my breathing quickened.

_Oh, god, I want the blood._

A raw pain exploded from my jaws, causing me to cry out. Damon pulled back violently—much to my baser side's displeasure—as he looked down at me with a shocked face. Turning my face away from him quickly, I placed a hand over my mouth and whimpered quietly. The prick of something sharp on my finger answered my thoughts as I realized what had happened.

"Riley, look at me," Damon ordered, his hand gently moving to hold my face still, his other hand carefully pulling mine away. My eyes were burning and there was a strange tugging at the skin around my eyes. I knew that I looked just like Damon did whenever he had fed from me, or when he had killed the blond woman, so demonic.

His thumb stroked the skin and veins beneath my eyes gently, drawing my attention away from my sore jaw momentarily. Looking up into his blue eyes, I forced myself to try and block out the smell of his blood as it poured off his skin in waves. But he was so close, the source was right there, and it was so hard to try and ignore that it was there. Closing my eyes, I tried to muffle another whimper of pain and self-loathing as my jaw clenched to try and press myself away.

"Hey, come on, look at me, Riley." Opening my eyes again, my hands gripped at Damon's wrists as he held my face gently. I watched in shock as his own face began to change, the red of his eyes and veins appearing before me. He opened his mouth to take a steady breath, exposing his fangs for a moment. "You need to let yourself relax, Riley. Take that feeling and just push it down," He explained calmly, letting me watch as the red and veins slowly disappeared beneath the surface again. "Try, Riley, just push it all away."

Taking a small breath to calm myself down, I swallowed harshly to try and push away all the nagging pain and need. Doing my best to relax, I tried to think back to when I hadn't really reacted to blood, before Damon had begun to feed me his and got me addicted to it. At the thought of how amazing Damon's blood had been before caused me to throw my arms out and push him away before I was able to hurt him.

Not knowing my strength, I ended up throwing Damon back against the far wall with a loud thud. The pain intensified in my jaw tenfold, causing my eyes to prick painfully with tears as they continued to burn from the blood that rose to the surface of the skin.

"I'm so sorry, Damon, I'm so sorry," I mumbled quietly as I fell off the opposite side of the bed to scurry across the floor until I was curled in the opposite corner of the room. "I didn't mean it, I just didn't want to hurt you," I hiccupped quietly as the tears poured from my eyes.

"Riley, calm down," Damon urged gently, his voice just a couple of inches from my ear. I could feel his arms gently pull me away from the wall, but I refused to look over to him. "I'm alright, you didn't hurt me. I'm tougher than that, babe." He pulled me up against his own form, his face burying in my hair as I rested my cheek against his chest.

"I'm s-sorry, I thought I could control it," I apologized quietly, hiccupping again.

"You did more than many can, Riley. You pushed me away instead of giving in to the hunger." But that doesn't make me feel any better. Grazing my tongue over one of my newly acquired fangs, I couldn't bring myself to hate them being there, even though they made me into a monster that had just tried to kill the man that I loved, it made me the same as him.

"I guess we're both monsters, now." I looked up in his eyes carefully, trying again to calm myself down. The feel of protection that Damon had always brought to my returned as I leant my head back slightly and tried to breathe properly, my breath hitching ever once and a while as my sobs died away. The burning in my eyes soon faded away and the pain in my jaw ebbed down to a dull sting.

"That's it, you're doing great," Damon encouraged, his thumb stroking beneath my eye again, the skin smooth once more. "You see? There you go. It'll get easier over time, trust me." Nodding my head, I looked down to his blue eyes once more and let a smile touch my lips.

"Thank you." Leaning forward to place a kiss on the corner of his lips, Damon turned his face into the kiss and pressed his lips firmly against my own. Before I let things get out of control again, I pushed him back with one last peck, offering a sad smile.

"How long should I stay down here?" I asked carefully, my hands sliding around his shoulders to stroke his back, still feeling guilty from when I had thrown him into the wall. I leant my forehead against his own, letting his eyes hold my own to keep me calm.

"Just until you've had time to adjust, and that differs between people. I'll stay down here with you, if that's what you want?" Nodding my head carefully, I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him more tightly, gently running them up and down his back. It felt as though I were the one that was trying to comfort him, not the other way around. He pulled me up gently until I was straddling his thighs, but neither of us took it in a sexual way. I needed comfort, I needed Damon close to me, and this was the best way to achieve it.

Waking up from a deep and dreamless sleep, I could immediately smell that sweet aroma once more. The blood was close by and very strong, meaning that I was smelling it from out in the open, not beneath someone's skin. Cracking my eyes open, the darkness of the cell like space caused me to cringe just slightly, before my eyes began to seek out the source of the smell. Rolling onto my back, I spotted Damon sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed and holding a cup of deep red liquid.

My throat constricted at the sight, but I took a calm breath and pushed down the feeling, looking up into Damon's eyes instead. Something akin to a smirk and a smile graced his lips, pride shining in his eyes, before he held the glass out to me. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Morning, Damon," I greeted quietly, taking the cup from him and raising into a sitting position. Raising the glass to my lips, I paused a moment to take in the smell before I tipped the glass back and took a large gulp. I was lost at the first taste and quickly took in the rest of the crimson liquid, feeling no regret to my behaviour. When I finally pulled the glass away when there was no longer any blood left inside, that was when I felt the regret.

"It'll take time," Damon assured, taking the glass from me. He must have noticed the look on my face. "You won't be in such a hunger after a bit, it's only because the lust for it is still very raw." Nodding my head, I allowed myself to try and relax as the taste of the blood lingered on my tongue. "You've got some visitors. Think you're alright to come upstairs?"

My head snapped over in Damon's direction with wide eyes. Was I ready? I attacked Damon yesterday, god knows what else I may do.

"I'll be there and so will Stefan. Bonnie and Alaric can protect themselves and I'm sure you won't need any of that anyway, because you are strong willed and will not attack your friends. Or in one case your History Teacher." Smacking Damon's arm, I regretted doing so when I hit him too hard and he winced away from me.

"Oh god, I can't even control my own body!" Gripping fistfuls of hair, I pulled my sheet covered legs up to my chest and hid my face away. I can't face the others yet, probably never.

_I could kill them!_

A strong set of familiar arms wrapped around my shoulders, my head falling to rest on a broad chest. The reassurance was there was always, just as it had been in the past whenever Damon held me.

"I think you really need this, to see your friends. Just trust me, Riley, I won't let you do anything you'll regret," Damon promised quietly in my ear, one of his large hands stroking along my arms. Taking a calming breath, I nodded my head slowly. I really did need my girls right now, before I lost my mind inside this small underground room.

"Alright, let's go."

"First," Damon stopped me, making me raise an eyebrow, "You need to clean your face, babe. The bloody lips might work on Halloween but it's not right for today."

I remained sitting on the cot as Damon left to retrieve some clean clothes and a wet towel for me to wash off my face. He still locked the door, probably only because he knew that I didn't trust myself and needed that reassurance that I wasn't going to hurt anyone. I was trying to keep myself calm the entire time that Damon was gone, bracing myself for meeting with Elena and the others. Damon came back downstairs with a fresh change of clothing and a wet cloth to wash off the blood that lingered on my face. Damon held my chin gently as he wiped at the blood on my face, stroking around my mouth and neck.

I watched his eyes as he cleaned my skin, a smile beginning to grace my lips as the time passed. Damon looked up from his work every so often to meet my look, a smirk tugging his lips every time he did so.

"So these are enhanced emotions?" I finally asked quietly, still smiling. They weren't that bad, when you didn't feel like being homicidal or suicidal.

"Yep, how're you liking the vampire life? Or, afterlife, technically," Damon questioned, his arrogant smirk returning to his face as he finished washing off the blood, placing a kiss against my lips for good measure. My heart would have skipped a beat in my chest if it was still beating.

"Not so bad, the death part wasn't so fun," I replied teasingly, seeing Damon's eyebrow twitch as he fought against raising it at me. "Yes, I'm fine to joke about my death now. So, if we can get going, I _really_ need some girl time." Damon snorted at my words but pulled me to my feet and offered the clothing out to me. I changed into the pants and shirt quickly, taking Damon's hand in mine as he knocked on the door.

Stefan stood on the other side immediately, unlocking the heavy wood and steal door. Damon squeezed my hand to assure that he would stop me from attacking anyone, and I felt some of the tension and nerves inside my stomach ebb away. Stefan offered a smile and one armed hug as soon as I stepped out with Damon before he took lead out of the basement.

"I'm sure that Caroline with be more than happy to talk you ear off if you need your girl time so badly," Damon said, clearly trying to keep me calm. I laughed at the truth in his statement as he stepped in front of me to walk up the basement stairs, keeping a hold on my hand even then.

"Thank you," I whispered to him once we were at the top of the stairs. I could hear the conversation that Elena and Bonnie were having in the other room, the heartbeats of all of the human's as clear as day. I swallowed thickly at the wet sound, clutching at Damon's hand until a human's would have shattered.

"It's alright," He assured, "Look at me, Riley, look at me." I forced myself to face him, watching as he took a deep breath, motioning for me to do so as well. My eyes drifted closed as I tried to calm myself, feeling Damon kiss my forehead gently. "We can always go back if you're not ready," He assured, making my eyes open as I shook my head.

I couldn't turn back now. "No, let's go."

Damon began to lead me over to the room where everyone was waiting, holding my hand tightly. As soon as the door was opened all of the quiet conversations inside the room ceased, attention drawing toward where Damon and I stepped in. I looked around at the familiar faces, seeing the upset in Bonnie's eyes, the pain and sadness in Elena's and the confusion of emotion in Caroline's.

"Hey, guys," I greeted meekly, seeing Elena move to step forward but pausing after one step.

I looked up to Damon and gave him a smile, releasing his hand. He moved after me, giving me room but staying close enough. I was relieved—knowing that they were safe.

From me.

I moved over toward Elena, smiling to her as best I could. She let out a quiet sob and rushed forward, enveloping me in her arms. The smell of her blood hit me like a physical force but I stomped it down as harshly as I could, gently placing my hands on her back to stop myself from hurting her.

"I'm so sorry, Riley," She mumbled against my shoulder, her hands fisting in my shirt. "This shouldn't have happened."

"It's alright, Elena," I assured quietly, lifting a hand to run it along her hair softly. "You didn't do anything to me." The smell of her blood was beginning to fill my head, her human scent and mortality clinging to her in such a way that I had to fight to recoil away from the strange smell. Damon seemed to understand that my limits were being pressed because he stepped up to me and silently eased Elena away from me.

"How are you feeling? I remember my first day…" Caroline trailed off, and I nodded my head. She hadn't told me about her first day as a vampire, but if she didn't have the people around to support and stop her like I did it must have been hard. She suddenly pulled me into a bone crushing embrace, mumbling comforting words and encouragements in my ear as she played with my lengthening hair.

"Thanks, Caroline," I gasped out, pattering her on the back. Stefan eased her off of me while Damon moved me back toward him. "You're all taking this…better than I thought."

"Alaric and Jeremy wanted to come but we decided that it would be best not to have too many people rush you at once," Elena said softly, offering a teary smile. "Jeremy really wants to see you, he misses you."

"I miss him, too. Tell him that I'm fine, alright?" I asked, getting a nod and smile in return.

Later that night after Elena, Bonnie and Caroline had gone home, I sat on Damon's bed with a tame expression. The sheets had been changed into a wonderful cotton with a thick brown duvet on top. I had been given some things to study for exams that the girls brought from my house, not wanting me to flunk out because I had died; well, _technically_.

"Hard to believe that you're graduating already," Damon said as he threw himself down on the sheets. "And the others still have one more year." I bounced slightly on the mattress because of his landing and laughed softly as I tried to control my books.

"Well, I am eighteen, I've got to get out of there sometime," I replied as I moved aside my history text book and laid down parallel to Damon. "And then comes the hard part of trying to find a job." I wasn't looking forward to job hunting, but I also knew that I still had a little while before that became a major concern.

"Well, you could always just move in with me and then mooch off all the money that I have. Or you could-"

"I'm not compelling people and stealing everything I want," I interrupted, watching the fake pout that appeared on Damon's lips. Lunging forward to take his bottom lip between my teeth, I could see the sudden darkness in his blue eyes from my action moments before I was on my back, my text books falling off the side of the bed.

"Thin ice, baby girl," He warned in a husky tone, the baritone sending shivers down my spine.

"I'll just drag you down with me," I growled back, grabbing a hold of his shirt and pulling him down against me. Enhanced emotions made moments like this a treasure, the feeling of love and need becoming a feeling of complete devotion and passion.

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**This is the second last chapter of the story, I don't know yet if I'll be writing a sequel, maybe I will. I decided to make this chapter nice and long for everybody!**


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